Memo Pad: Greatest Hits... Lobbyist Sues Times for $27M...

GREATEST HITS: The International Center of Photography soon will unveil a yearlong series of exhibitions dedicated to fashion photography, from the Twenties to the present. The “Year of Fashion” series will cover topics from the history of fashion photography to the relationship between art and fashion, and show works from photographers including Richard Avedon, Nick Knight, Steven Meisel, Mario Sorrenti, Steven Klein, Paolo Roversi, Michael Thompson and Miles Aldridge. The first exhibitions, which will be on display beginning Jan. 16, will include 175 works by Edward Steichen, drawn largely from the Condé Nast archives, dating from 1923 to 1937.

Carol Squiers, co-curator, said that, apart from articles on, for instance, the lifestyle of a particular photographer, there wasn’t a great deal of research upon which to call. “There is no sense of history of the medium,” she said, adding that she was drawn, in particular, to Avedon. “He certainly is the most prolific and creative photographer in the history of the medium.”

Vince Aletti, co-curator, personally owns complete runs of Harper’s Bazaar and American Vogue. He spent months researching countless magazines from the U.S. and abroad for the exhibition “Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now,” also on display starting Jan. 16. It includes tear sheets and covers published during the past few years.

Other shows coming later in the year include “David Seidner: Paris Fashion, 1945,” and, in May, fashion photography from Avedon dating from 1944 to 2000 will be on display. Noted Aletti, who is also a photography critic for The New Yorker: “In the whole history of fashion photography, Avedon’s the one for me.” — Amy Wicks