Horst P. Horst - “Mainbocher’s Corset” - just a stylish image or a story of conflicted Europe?

A black and white image of a Madame Bernon, leaning against a balustrade, with a corset half-undone, laces spread over the surface and falling over the edge. She’s hiding her face in her arms, as if ashamed of something she’s done. Or maybe scared of what’s to come?

The ivory image, almost as if sculpted with light and the model’s pose, reminiscent of the neo-classical art, is one of the most recognisable photographs of Horst P. Horst. It’s also one that tells a story of his escape from France to the United States in 1939 — the time where Germany was invading France in World War II. The model’s pose encompasses a sense of loss and fragility — of having to give up what once was.

It is also reflective of the changes in fashion around that time. The corset, made by Detolle for an American couturier, signifies an end to loose fitting female wardrobe of the 1920s Jazz Era. It was replaced with the desire to show off the hourglass figure shape by the ladies. Horst made slight adjustments to the final image by removing the space between the model’s body and the corset, however, he has mentioned he preferred the one with it. I think it adds that element of life creeping into the photograph, making it a little bit more real and less studied. 

I found out that Horst made several sketches before taking the image, which I find quite interesting in terms of approaching a photoshoot. He was carefully working out the composition and the pose of the model on paper, before getting into the studio. I personally strongly believe preparation is absolute key for a successful production. Coming from a filmmaking background, a shot list and storyboard are extremely useful tools to not only save time on the day, but to also careful outline the vision for the shots you want to obtain. It forces you to use your imagination and really zero-in on what you want to achieve on the day.

Having said that, I have never actually sketched ideas on paper. I know the direction I always want to go, and carefully prepare a set of compositions of images and poses before, but I haven’t thought of using storyboarding to map out at least some of the images. I do believe leaving a room for spontaneity and inspiration on the day is equally important — so many times I had a careful plan of what to do on the day, but discovering little things during the production has pivoted some ideas about shots and lighting, allowing to discover something you can only see and use in the moment.

I wonder if Horst allowed for that inspiration to influence his resulting images?