French photographer Georges Dambier was born in 1925 in Paris, and at the end of WWII, he met and assisted the up-and-coming photographer Willy Rizzo. His ability with graphics and penchant for stylish women led him to specialize in fashion photography. Within a few years, he began photographing the beauties of the day, including Dorien Leigh, Suzy Parker, and Brigitte Bardot. He was soon offered an editorial position at Elle by Helene Lazareff, the famous editor. It was a fantastic opportunity for Dambier, and he took full advantage of it. His work with Elle made him one of the first French photographers to take models out of the studio. Dambier took some of his most memorable and engaging photographs on the streets of Paris. Robert Capa suggested to George that they start a “Fashion Department” at Magnum in 1954. However, Capa died unexpectedly in Vietnam several days later.
During the 1960s and 1980s, Dambier worked for two important publications that helped spread his fame. In 1964, he created the magazine, Twenty, which embodied a new publishing concept in the early 1960s: presenting fashion and culture in style to attract a younger generation of readers. The second magazine he worked on came about when the popular news magazine V.S.D. became more arts-oriented in 1980 and France’s second most popular magazine for the next decade.
Georges Dambier passed away in 2011 at the age of 86. He took these stunning photos of classic beauties in the 1950s for his work.
