Erwin Blumenfeld’s images often teased its viewers through photographic and visual manipulations achieved by reflective surfaces, shadows and duplications. When photographing the soon-to-be Princess of Monaco, Blumenfeld hinted at surrealism by housing Grace Kelly in a life-sized gilded frame, perhaps likening her to a literal work of art. In 2007, photographer Tim Walker, whose aesthetic is more whimsy than surreal, would similarly place model Stella Tennant behind a baroque, picture-less gold frame for Vogue Italia‘s August 2007 issue.
Grace Kelly by Erwin Blumenfeld, 1955
Stella Tennant by Time Walker for Vogue Italia, August 2007