document: Curious About Georges Georges Dambier , whose work is the subject of a delightful exhibition at the Bonni Benrubi Gallery on East 57th Street -LRB- through May 14 -RRB- , liked to use Paris as the backdrop for his fashion photographs . Or Cannes or Marrakesh . This was the postwar world of jazz clubs , existentialists , cheap travel , uncrowded streets , beautiful cars , artists and , of course , Paris couture . With his Rolleiflex , Mr. Dambier , who will be 86 on Tuesday , captured all of this with honest joie de vivre , publishing his fashion images in French Elle . And he worked with some of the era 's great beauties : Suzy Parker , Dorian Leigh , Bettina , Marie-Hélène Arnaud , Capucine , Ivy Nicholson and a young Brigitte Bardot . I admit : his name was new to me . But when I saw some images online , I was attracted to his sense of color and the carefree quality of his fashion work , which nicely mingled sophistication with girl-next-door sex appeal . '' `` He shot for Elle in the '' `` 50s , '' '' said Rachel Smith , the director of the Benrubi gallery . '' `` He 's never really broken past that French sphere . I do n't think he got the credit he deserves . '' '' Richard Avedon and Irving Penn , among others , dominate that era . Yet it 's interesting that Mr. Dambier , like Avedon , was photographing in the streets , using Paris cafes and other scenes , and in a way that feels more natural and familiar than his American counterpart , who photographed for Harper 's Bazaar and helped bring more action to fashion images . One of my favorites , from a 2008 monograph of Mr. Dambier 's black and white images , shows the model Sophie Litvak at close range as she pays a taxi driver , her face framed by the raised collar of her coat and the opened flap of her handbag . This is the second exhibition of Mr. Dambier 's work at Bonni Benrubi , which first heard about him 10 years ago through a colleague in London . Mr. Dambier lives in Provence , where he has run a bed-and-breakfast for many years . About nine months ago , Ms. Smith said , he mentioned that he also had color images . '' `` He said , '' `` I think I could get these negatives restored , '' '' '' '' Ms. Smith recalled with a light laugh . '' `` When we saw the scans , we were bowled over by the color . '' '' In the last decade , digital retouching has made everything look oversharp and perfect - and , as Ms. Smith said of the Dambier images , '' `` they 're not perfect and that 's why they 're amazing . They have that sense of color that does n't exist anymore . '' '' She added : '' `` He 's just a complete find . He pulls these images out , like the girl in the polka-dot bathing suit , and you think , '' `` Where have you been hiding this ? '' '' '' '' In addition to treating high fashion as a popular art , by photographing it in the street , Mr. Dambier 's pictures of fresh-faced models at the beach -LRB- including one posed with a surfboard -RRB- , seem to summon the '' `` 60s .
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