john singer sargent

DAZZLING PARIS

photography

by OLIVIER ZAHM

I photographed the paintings of John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) at the exhibition “Sargent: Dazzling Paris” in the Musée d’Orsay, using no additional lighting and an analog camera — as if I were shooting fashion models. The idea was to confront the language of painting with that of fashion photography, and to reveal how contemporary fashion imagery is still — and often unconsciously — influenced by figurative painting from the fin de siècle and Belle Époque.

Considered one of the greatest portraitists of his time, the American painter forged his style and artistic persona in Paris, absorbing the currents of naturalism and Impressionism. He moved effortlessly through French society, forming close relationships with artists, writers, and patrons. In 1884, he fled to London after his portrait Madame X provoked scandal. Criticized as excessively sensual — with the pale skin, daring décolletage, and averted…