Reading List....Elegance - The Seeberger Brothers
I found this book Elegance - The Seeberger Brothers and the Birth of Fashion Photography by Chronicle Books about a year ago. I have flipped through it often, but I took it on vacation recently and absolutely fell in love with it.
Someday, 100 years from now, I hope some young person will flip through a book of my images and feel the way I felt looking at these photos.
Running a blog is a daily job that requires immediate action. I love that challenge but it is equally important to me that these images last and hopefully reflect a little bit of this moment in time for future generations.
I don't worry if what I do is art - but it is a document. A book like this makes me proud that I might be able to continue that tradition.
I am so jealous I didn't take this photo, but the picture I took the other day in Stockholm feels like this to me and you could almost switch the two young woman and still have the same spirit of the image. 
I like to look at this image and imagine it is the Tuileries in Paris and that I am capturing the same spirits today but in different bodies dressed in different clothing. 
There are not many men's images in the book but the ones that are included are fantastic. 
Even the little details are fascinating. This photo is dated Aug 14th in Deauville. AUGUST 14th! And she is wearing a giant coat. There are a lot of images like this, people really bundled up in the middle of August. It is the disconnect from today's world that I think makes these images romantic and mysterious.
What can I say about this image except it is soooo beautiful and inspiring.
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post a commentFantastic. I'm going to look for the book. As for your own body of work, I seriously expect people to be looking at it years from now. This morning I was searching through the archives trying to find the firt post I ever commented on and was struck, as I always am, by the wealth of fantastic images contained in the archives of this blog alone. I've been commenting on posts on the Sartorialist for about two months and had never come across another person posting as Dan until yesterday when a second Dan commented on "Last Looks of Summer" (that's what sent me to the archives- because that same person had been the subject of my first post and I wondered when it was)and that prompted me to create a profile so for now this former Dan will be Dan in Richmond. And speaking of books, are there any plans afoot for a book of your photographs? I bet every regular visitor to this blog would buy- how many's that for a start?
That is absolutley lovley. Especially the girl in the second photo... so elegant and stylish! I want this book!
i have that book too and look through it often for inspiration.
Amazing photos! Thanks for posting.
It's a fabulous book!!!
Beautiful. I will be looking for this book. The images are gorgeous and inspiring...as are yous :)
Great pictures! I wonder what is it about the men's clothing from that time that gives them so much allure, even in most simple outfit (for ex. man in the last picture). Is the trousers cut? Something else?
So lovely!
Absolutely perfect. I just ordered this book and can't wait to receive it.
wow, those are gorgoeus images! as are yours. thank you for doing what you do Sart. you're one of my daily reads and looking at your pictures never fails to make me smile. cheers!
The last picture looks as if it was shot today and not 50, 60, or 70 years old. A classic shot
le sigh...
How I long for a return to elegance! Our entire culture has lost track of what beauty, taste, and wit are all about. Instead of beauty, we have an infatuation with the grotesque. Instead of taste, we have shock value and, "Oh, that's really different!". Instead of wit, we have infantile, embarrassing, potty-mouth humor.
But ah, these images... people putting on nice clothes just to leave the house... that lovely enveloping coat and face-framing hat on the woman in the August picture... the man at the seaside in cream trousers and a tweed jacket...
The pendulum can swing back any time now.
They are all wonderful, but the first and third photos in particular are amazing - that perfect androgynous, effortless glamour with the man's jacket on the girl in #1, while the third pic is SO Jay Gatsby...
What I especially like about them is their sex appeal -they are relaxed rather than posed and stuffy. I think that is the value of documentary photography, its ability to capture spontaneity and the ephemeral moment, the 'toppling hour', as the poet Louis MacNeice described it.
I think your photographs do that very well.
all the images are beautiful and inspiring, indeed. it makes me smile to know that there are people like you insist on making good art and keep inspiring people even generations after. this will never end I hope!
Hi-- I'm a brand-new fan of your blog and am just now going through the archives. What you do here is most certainly Art in my opinion-- as creative as the fashion design itself.
I sell the clothes of a famous design brand at a huge department store... your blog is inspiring me to understand my job in a new light.
In the last picture, of the couple, what accounts for her very dark skin above and her very light legs below?
Wow. I am moved by those images...
The last one is beautiful, and inspiring, and somehow heartbreaking.
The man on the beach is just a gorgeous piece of art, and terribly poignant. The girl in Chanel makes me think of Edna St Vincent Millay.
Life moves so quickly.
yeah, here's to looking forward to a book of your images, Sart :)! I think what will be unique about your book would be the images of men. I find your capture of men's style exceptional, more so than the women's if i may be so outrageously candid. i also deeply admire your use of light, the spontaneity you capture and the depth in the backgrounds.
Indeed. Thank you for sharing!
I bought this book in the Brooklyn Museum a couple of months ago when i went to see the small but wonderful Art Smith jewelry exhibit. Sart, I agree, it's a terrific book and the images relate to yours' because the photos are of people in everyday life, they are not models posed and primped for the camera.The pictures say so much. I have always thought that your work is a lot about social documentary and as such has a far reaching importance. You are very broad minded in who, what and where you choose to photograph and no detail misses your eagle eye. I've been wanting a book of your work book eversince i started following your blog and I want a first edition because it will become very valuable (!) - your work will be looked at and discussed for many, many years to come.
The woman sitting on the fence looks very modern. I guess when materials for clothes were short for ordinary people,they took more care of them. Today the mentality is much like buy,wear and throw away.Also the fact that clothes were tailored make a difference. I´m sure that this book is very interesting for you and for all of us.
Hello Sart, delightful photos of yesteryear. I have not a shred of doubt that your photos will be shared and looked at in much the same fashion as you have looked at those in Elegance. Thank you for the sample look into the book will buy.
I am so inspired. This is just what I needed. thank you. If you see a girl walking around NYC during fashion week looking like she stepped out of the 1920s, its me. hah!
Where can I get this book?
FANTASTC!!!!!!
From the number of comments in your blog, I think you will find that not only will people return to look at your pictures years from now, but you are also becoming a marketing tool for many in the fashion industry, and now publishing. I think you are creating a valuable fashion archive since you photograph what people wear on the street rather than on a photo shoot, and that has a lot of value. Jorge from W Palm Beach
I think the genius himself, Mr. Armani has studied this book in detail. Lots of similarities. Great find!
it's just gorgeous
Great find - I'd love to have this book!
Great pictures !! I particularly love the last one ..
so beautiful!
The images from the book are great, and it seems likely that your own work will endure in a similar way. However, I'd like to say, for the record, how much your work means to me today, this year, this season. While runway and fashion mag photos inspire and amaze, your work brings us into the world of style and real people, and it's truly rich. Thank you.
On a side note, it's not so far-fetched that one would wear furs on a North Sea beach like Deauville in August. brr.
I see that this book can be bought on sale at the publisher's site right now for 30% off using promo code "zipcar" at checkout:
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/index/main,book-info/store,books/products_id,6412/title,Elegance/
Such a beautiful book and beautiful thoughts of your own....thank you!
What a great book! Thank you! Must get it now!!!!
I am going to look for this book. The few photos you show are perfection, and I have to say Sart on the whole your shots are future classics as well. It is so interesting that true elegance is continually relaxed and unpretentious and many of your shots, and certainly the photos you display here, represent this. I am always looking for it. Thanks for getting it right.
amazing. Tha time people even had a different and extremely elegant way of stare. They just STARE so beautiflly. Their bodys were much more elegant...
thanks to readymade i found your blog. i really love your images! i will come back to visit often! i love seeing what you capture!
*b
I adore old photos. I recently received a disk full of old family photos (1900-1960s) and I was struck by the elegance of subjects. This was in New Zealand which may seem remote now, but in those days it was weeks or months away from the fashion centres. NZers back then were probably out of fashion by international standards, but it doesn't seem to matter when seen through the filter of time. Now I can look at the photos and admire the formality (and smirk at the impracticality)! I posted a few of the photos on my blog the other day, and it is marvellous to click here and have a glimpse at what the real fashionistas were up to at the same time. Thanks, Sart.
Lovely and inspiring.
I love the fashion!!! It´s so elegant!
<3<3
sorry i am offtop.
I am from Russia, have ou ever been to Russia? and have you made any pictures there?
lovely images, i'll look for the book...
also, sart, have you seen this?
www.thecatorialist.blogspot.com
it's a pretty clever parody.
beautiful!
the second woman is my favorite.
I feel sure your photos will be of the same interest. It is the everyday of these images that makes history real; breathes life into mere facts and dates. t.x
yum!!!...another book for the must have list...
THIS IS THE MOST INSPIRING POST TO DATE. I'M GOING TO BUY A CAMERA...A PROFESSIONAL CAMERA THAT IS.
love it!!
love the beachy girl and boy in the last pic...they could be from any time (including right now)!
that's style.
xx
veronika
sweettalkonthespot.wordpress.com
My mother gave me this book for Christmas last year. There's a photo of a lady wearing a polka dot dress (or jacket, can't remember) and walking a Dalmation which I just adore. As a book I find it endlessly inspiring.
If it counts for anything, I find your photos to be equally inspiring. I view your blog almost daily and I've discovered it to be a lovely way to escape the stresses of life; just to see such wonderful photographs of such unique styling and very individual people.
I referred a friend to your blog, who also views it daily, and we have both fallen head over heels in love with it. Not just because we get ideas from the style of people you've photographed, but also because of the immense care you put into every shot.
You are truly inspiring; an timeless hero. Thanks for everything.
fantastic. i love all these photos.
Wow Sart, those are awesome images. I've always been enthralled by photo books. I'm sure you'll have one under your belt in no time. =)
Wow, I have a feeling there will be a run on this book, amazing images!
Sart this is exactly what you are already doing. A book of your photos is a must but The Sartorialist is already an electronic catalogue. People flick through the archive pages daily, as they would with a book. Your images are beautiful and timeless, I'm certain people will be flicking through either your hardback or electronic pages in years to come.
Thank you for introducing me to this book, I must have it!
the last one is perfection!
we carry this book in the shop I work at, I bought it immediately !!! I recommend that everyone who reads the sartorialist read this book!
fantastic pictures, thanks
true fashion is enduring, not trend, not fad, but true fashion...love that bottom photo.
Well, Sart, these are fantastic pix. I especially love the lady in the suit. No only am I into men's wear as my own personal style, I love the lady. She looks like Ingrid Bergman, one of my favorite old-school actresses.
And there is certainly a book somewhere among the beautiful pictures you've given us. But even if not, you must know how many of us get the same feeling from opening your blog that you get when you open the book.
The Sartorialist is weirdly addicting and if it were a book I would keep it on the table in my office where others could enjoy it. The appreciation of style sounds so frivolous when you consider that we've invaded another country and so many people have died from that one ridiculous move and the economy is fucked up and we have a president who makes me embarrassed to be an American when I go abroad.... With all that, there is still the simple pleasure of coming here and seeing someone who pulled something out of their own closet that didn't necessarily cost a ton of money and without the help of a "stylist" and they are a walking piece of art with their own identity and personal style. And many of your pictures are just beautifully lit and composed. Excellent portaiture.
Unlike Vogue (which I glance through with a bit of annoyance at being reminded of how poor I am) you give us something attainable and real -- you put on display true style which doesn't require mega bucks.
Of course if you have mega bucks (or fashion connections) that helps.... (see all your shots of Vogue editors in their great, fashionable pieces).
If you do get a book together, I will be the first to fork out the hundred bucks (a lot of money to moi).... 'cause you're worth it, babe.
Keep on keepin' on.
Fabulous, fabulous photos. I am adding this book to my list of "must haves" right now. Thank you. Your blog is elegant!
well clearly, sart, if you don't mind me calling you that..you have a book to be published calling out to you. there's just something about photos compiled in a book and felt in the hands to be savored that cannot be the same as on a cold, mechanical screen. what say you?
What a great find, so inspirational as far as fashion and photography!
Also, I adore your blog! I think it's a great example of current fashion that can become timeless. It's very inspirational to me, and gives me new ideas for my current wardrobe, and what I'd like to buy to add to it. It will be a great reference for the future.
Take care!
Much love!
~AliciaInAlaska
That looks like a beautiful book.. thanks for sharing.
looks like a great book...the vintage images are beautiful!
Wow! the fashion then was so different, yet so intrinsically the same at certain levels.
I wonder what the front of that white dress in last snap looked like.
Thanks for the head's up....
With the last picture, I was initially confused - I thought that you had included one of your photos! I had to look closer at the man to determine that it wasn't completely contemporary.
Amazing.
The black and white -photos are sovereign!
i absolutely adore the chanel 458 photo- this high class flapper style is just so captivating. imagining that it's the tiuleries is great, but i think it matches 1920's new york so well.
I have this book and I have always love the simple elegance of the images.
wonderful, thanks for sharing!
August in Brittany: COLD! Just had to cancel a week there because it was apparently going to rain ceaselessly. So not such a disconnect from today's world after all.
Beautiful photos, and I agree yours are fascinating too. While I'm commenting for the first time, let me mention that I subscribe to your RSS feed and love seeing new batches of your pictures pop up. You have a fantastic eye—the photographs you take each contain some idea to ponder, to love or hate, adopt or reject, or simply appreciate. There are no boring pictures on your blog, despite the consistency of your subject (person in the street wearing clothes, usually standing, seen head to toe, and usually aware of the camera). Your genuine interest in what you see, the care you take in the images you present, and your impressive instinct is evident everywhere. I do hope you have your own glossy photo book someday—it will be not on my shelf but forever open on my dresser. A million thanks for all this.
Tangentially --
I have heard many times, from several people, the question on whether photography is a true art form, when all it does is capture what is already created, existing. Why can't art start from someone's eyes? From someone's perception of what is worthy to be captured and remembered? True, you 'document' these fashions, but if your eyes did not judge what is beauty, and if you didn't translate that through an evolving technique, who else can show it to us the way that you wanted it shown.
Art can be well planned, well executed. But it can also be about recognizing stories in the most spontaneous of situations. And that's why photography, even those that are created for blogs, can be art.
Great photos, I will certainly check out the book.
As to the photo of people really bundled up in the middle of August...trust me, on the Normandy coast can get quite chilly in mid-August...even in today's world!
Thank you for this lovely post. I really enjoyed it, every word of it, every picture...now I want to buy the book!!
I love all these vintage but timeless examples of elegance you show here...you made a great selection of images.
Your blog never dissapoints, no matter if you are bringing us all those wonderful outfits you seem to find anywhere you go or you are sharing your thoughts, reccomendations and excelent eye for style like here in this post.
Thank you Scott!
Love those images - what a fascinating book. I'll have to pick it up.
I come here looking for inspiration - and I find it every time. Beyond all the fashion - it's like you say, how it represents a beautiful person in a beautiful time. You always capture it wonderfully.
Those pictures are not too distant from the realities of Deuville today. Especially that of the women perched, swaggeringly so, in front of a changing room. How Great Gatsby of her.
It's spooky to see, i was only recently holiday-ing in Deuville and those dividers all display plaques with the names of hollywood greats on, i wonder what her role was in life?
Yes and what will make your book fascinating 100 years from now is that it's not just 'society' or 'fashion' people that you shoot (although there are enough of those to keep things interesting)--it's also everyday people out on the streets.
This book looks wonderful and I'm sure the publisher is seeing a sudden and unexpected spike in sales at the moment!
Like Dan In Richmond said...
I look forward for a book of your own.....probably "Fashion History" book....for a next generation..
This is a coffee table "must have".
Just bought it on Amazon!
What more can be said besides: BEAUTIFUL! Your photos truly follow in the great tradition of these images--and it's so fascinating to see such modern, lively pictures that were actually taken 80 years ago--I definitely must get the book.
I am a huge fan of authentic vintage clothing. I like to incorporate it into my own look. This book is fab. I'll have to find a copy for myself. I would love to see people wearing hats again. The millinery is tres chic!
In a world where the true meaning of style and sophistication have long been forgotten, it is inspiring to have a blog like yours. Thank you very much Mr. Schuman.
I have noticed on some of our older family photographs that they seem to be dated when they were developed rather than when they were taken.
I especially love the first two photos! What expression! I love the first one because of its' lively nature. And the second, the woman is lovely, and very much in the style that this site enbodies.
Thank you for putting your photographs (really, your artwork) up for all to enjoy!
This is great! I hope one day you would put together a book like this, and I'm sure it will inspire generations and generations to come. :)
The photos are... what can I say...
I simple love 1920´s and 1930´s clothes. These photos are more than inspiring... and you are a great professional.
Congratulations
As a student of literature, I really appreciate your perspective on your photography; its status as a document and something important, but not strong-armed into the funny classification of "art".
Keep up the good work. Your photos are beautiful!
Beautiful images. This is one of my favorite posts. The book looks yummy.
I immediately went out and bought the book. These photos capture the elegance of an era that I so long to return to. I try in my own small way to capture it in what I wear. Your photos Sart are doing a wonderful job of keeping elegance and grace ahead of trend and flash.
I think the two people in the romantic beach pic are both girls are they not? Its very beautiful and timeless anyway. Thanks for sharing. Am purchasing the book pronto.
Will you be releasing a book of images?
I hope you do, it would be fantastic!!
I think your photos would make just as good a documentary book as these. It is so unusual to see vintage photos that are not formal and posed. My favorites are the last one with the couple overlooking the sea and the man on the beach in a jacket and white pants. Casual wear was just so much more elegant then! No ratty T shirts and skanky thong bikinis.
Elizabeth is right---the coat is not so far-fetched. In fact, I was in the Alps on August 14th of THIS year---and we had to turn on the heat. On the 15th, it was only 46 in the morning.... so: it's really more pragmatic than romantic. (Actually, most of Paris' weather is that way---pretty chilly. We don't get much in the way of summer here unless you head to the south coast).
Cheers,
Poulette
I tuned into the fashions of the 20s and 30s a long time ago. I would record old movies, and watch them all day just to get a daily dose of eye candy. The tailoring and the quality of everyday clothing back then was incredible, women with limited means are deprived of that now.
Hi Sart-- I turn to your blog and photos at least three times per week for inspiration, a dose of intrigue and spirit, and a fix on true human beauty, in much the same way it seems you turn to this book. Thank you for sharing your daily work and art with us all.
I LOVE THIS POST! The way you worded things made it ten times beautiful. "...the disconnect from today's world that I think make these images romantic and mysterious." Nicely put
It's cold in Normandie, even in August, no matter what year it is.
I, too, own the Seebergers' book, and it is a treasure. All the people look as if they have stepped out of "Tender is the Night," but in a good way.
Sart: you have an eye for elegance and quirkiness that can put you in the pantheons with these photographers. Not likely that we can summon up another talent like Scott Fitzgerald, however...
We are Seebergers here in the US (no relation), and I have studied and lived in France, while my family have worked in ladies' fashions for decades. We enjoy this book for the name association and the gorgeous and glamorous images --really a time gone by, yet style that still speaks!
G.SEEBERGER
bingo
I have just come back from Deauville in northern france and they have a big exhibition of these pictures on top of the beach huts by the board walk. They are absolutely beautiful. To see them in situ is even more exciting as the sea front hasn't changed since the photographs were taken.