Maybe Bauhaus

These fantastic photos by the French photographer and designer Serge Lutens probably from the 1980s remind me a lot of the Bauhaus design of the 1920s and 1930s.

Bond Girl

In the US Vogue appeared in May 1999 the editorial "License to Thrill" with Carmen Kass and done by Ellen von Unwerth.

In her typical ironic manner Unwerth is quoting the Bond heroines, here especially the first of all Bond girls Ursula Andress as Honey Rider, in Dr. No (1962).

Nighthawks

This nice photo by the Spanish pohotographer Eugenio Recuenco and published in the Lavazza calendar 2007 is quoting one of the most famous paintings in American art history: "Nighthawks" (1942) by Edward Hopper (1882-1967).

Shadows

By the meantime these impressive photos are a little famous in the web.


They are by the Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø and were first published in Numero 93. Even though I don’t know if Sundsbø knows the film, I discovered a big resemblance with a scene in the science fiction film “Cherry 2000” from 1987.

Christina’s World

This photo by Carter Smith appeared in Vogue 1997 as a quotation of the famous painting "Christina’s World" (1948) by Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009).

Spiderman

This picture by the Italian photographer Gian Paolo Tomasi is an obvious quotation of Spiderman coming up a skyscraper.

Post Apocalyptic Zombies

This Editorial by Steven Meisel was published in the Vogue Italia in 2004.



Despite it’s no quotation of any specific artwork it refers to a lot of post apocalyptic zombie movies. With its dark and morbid atmosphere is it not atypical for the kind of Editorials by Meisel.

Pure American

On the occasion of the presidential elections in 2008 Harper's Bazaar published this photo of John McCain and his wife Cindy by the photographer John Huba.

The McCains are posing as pure Americans like the couple on the famous painting "American Gothic" (1930) by Grant Wood.

Mondrian once more

Chinese actress and pop singer Fan Bingbing featured on Harper’s Bazaar China for the month of January 2008.


Maybe it’s not necessary to say that this is also a Mondrian quotation.

Christina Barbarella

In 2008 Ellen von Unwerth made a photo shoot with Christina Aguilera for the greatest hits album, "Keeps Gettin’ Better".


It’s a nice retro shoot which reminds of good old Barbarella.

Egyptian Goddess

This photo is from Vogue Russia, January 2009.

Maybe I’m going to far, but it reminds me of the statue of the Egyptian goddess Selket, found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun. It’s not only the pose, but also the gold and the eyes.

Hommage to Roy Lichtenstein

Probably in 2008 published Zinc Magazine an editorial called “masterpiece” by the famous fashion photographer Mike Ruiz.



It’s a hommage to Roy Lichtenstein.

Iwo Jima Flag

Very popular in advertisings is the famous photograph of the Iwo Jima flag rising.


The original is from 1945 and probably the most iconic photo of the United States.

Gilette’s Venus

Gilette’s new campaign for female razors utilizes the old image of Venus the goddess of love and beauty.

Although there are a lot of artistic interpretations of this subject, I prefer Botticelli because of the wind and because it’s the best known.

Crucifixion

This photo was published by Harper's Bazaar China September 2008 in celebration of the Olympic Games.

It’s a quotation of the painting by Salvador Dalí Christ of Saint John of the Cross (1951).

Star Wars Fashion

In Highlights Magazine Fall 2008 appeared a series called 'Armour Karma'. The photographer was Kah Poon.


Without any doubt nice pictures, but I see a strong influence of the dresses of queen Amidala from Star Wars.

Vanity Fair's Pin Ups

I just have mentioned, that pin ups became fashionable. Probably it’s the colors and the artificial poses which made them so attractive to photographers and designers. Anyway, since some years Vanity Fair presents a relatively new and up-coming actress in form of a 50s-style pinup shot.

The Vanity Fair edition of October 2008 shows the actress Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis.

But Mila Kunis is not only posing as "a" pin up, she’s exactly copying the pin up by Edward Runci which was published with the title "They're Easy To Handle" in 1953.

Sin City Fashion by Steven Meisel

In spring 2005 the film Sin City by Frank Miller was real sensation. The impressive colors and the perfectly arranged film noir and pulp esthetics made Sin City also to an ideal pattern for a special kind of dark fashion.

Because of that it isn’t very surprising to me that it was Steven Meisel who has an inclination to dark and sometimes violent arrangements shot in the same year a Fashion Editorial for Vogue Italy, inspired by the film.

Medea

Despite it happens frequently that older (and lesser known) art is used as an inspiration in advertising without any reference or quoting, there are also many a modern photographer who are paying their respects to art history.

So did for example the british digital artist Rebecca Parker with her photo Medea:

It’s a well arranged quotation of the famous artwork from 1898 by the Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860 –1939).

There you find more examples about Medea in art.