LOS ANGELES, CA.- It is with great sadness that we report on the passing of Fashion Photographer, Melvin Sokolsky. He left his family, friends, and others in this world on Monday, August 29, 2022. His iconic “Bubble” series and “Fly” series will remain in our collective memories.

Melvin was a seeker of technical innovation and creative image making. While in his presence, he was always willing to provide a memorable story from his career in photography. His fashion photographs were unquestionably chic, cutting edge, and eye-catching. His work will inextricably be intertwined within the evolution and history of Fashion Photography.

Melvin Sokolsky’s photographs are deeply imaginative and challenge the aesthetic conventions of the advertising and editorial worlds. Reflecting the artist’s fascination of surreal art, Sokolsky’s photographs explore and play with special relationships, scale, proportions, visual rationality, and the laws of physics. He used oversized furniture, upside down rooms, dreamscape scenarios, and other defamiliarizing and visual interplays, which helped define his fashion aesthetic. He continued to create commercial fashion images that illustrated more than just the clothes they purported to feature. Regardless of context, Sokolsky’s work always pops out and provokes the viewer to reexamine our established logic. As Melvin has said, “really, I’m only interested in photography as a tool for exploring and visualizing psychological and emotional conditions.”

When Melvin Sokolsky, all of 25 years old and already a regular contributor to Harper's Bazaar, shot the 1963 Paris collection - he forecast a change of language in Fashion Photography. This fashion assignment turned out to be an amazing adventure for Sokolsky. He was praised and congratulated for his unconventional and triumphant work. The “Bubble” series had ignited the world of Fashion Photography and became an iconic example of showcasing fashion in his unique innovative style.

Haunted by a peculiar image from Hieronymus Bosch’s, “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, Sokolsky experienced a reoccurring dream in which he saw himself floating inside a bubble across exotic landscapes. Inspired, he quickly used the idea for his famous “Bubble” series. The “bubble” was fabricated to emulate a Fabergé egg, for which Sokolsky had great admiration for its design and workmanship. Complicated and unrealistic at first, he was able to eventually realize his dream. Sokolsky commented, “with the awareness that I was prone to live in my own head much of the time, and inclined to severe criticism, I began to have doubts I could create any images on film that reflected the images in my mind’s eye.” The enlarged “bubble” was produced in 10 days of plexiglass and aircraft aluminum for the hinged rings. After a successful test run in New York, Sokolsky was off to Paris to shoot the 1963 Spring Collection for Harper’s Bazaar.

During the various shoots throughout Paris the challenge was to position the telescopic crane at each location from which the bubble would be suspended. Using his favorite model at the time, Simone d’Aillencourt, she would get into the bubble that was suspended a few feet of the ground (or water as the case may be). There was hinged at the top of the bubble (like a Fabergé egg) so that it could be easily swung open for entry. After being locked in safely, and able to breath due to the space between the hemispheres; the “bubble” was raised into the final position.

His fashion shoots were often teetering between dangerous condition and wondrous images designed to destabilize common logic. Floating bubbles, flying models, and oversized objects (like chairs) became subject matter illustrating his unique style. Consequently, these images become successful because they were memorable and instantly recognized as Melvin’s signature.

Raised in New York City, he was introduced to photography by using his father’s box camera. In his early years he become a disciplined weightlifter before choosing photography as a profession. A self-taught photographer with no formal training - who followed his intuition, observations, and instinct to become an image maker whose photographs are recognizable throughout the world. The qualities of an irreverent attitude, chutzpah, and cleverness led him to create memorable photographs.

In 1969 Sokolsky embarked on a new career in television commercials as a Director and Cameraman. Over the years he has been honored with twenty-five Cleo Awards and is the recipient of many major television commercial awards, including the coveted Director’s Guild Nomination.

In 2003 Sokolsky received a Lucie Award, presented by Ali MacGraw, for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Photography. In 1986 and 1991 Sokolsky’s photographs were exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 2018 his work was included in the Getty Museum’s exhibition titled “Icons of Style” -an exhibition surveying the rich and varied history of modern fashion photography, exploring the ways in which photographers whose careers have been closely associated with the industry have shaped evolving notions of style and beauty. In addition to his impressive exhibition history, Melvin’s photographs are included in numerous private collections throughout Europe and the United States.

Button Sokolsky, Melvin’s longtime collaborator, muse, and wife passed away some years ago. He is survived by his son, Bing Sokolsky, and daughter-in-law, Yuki Sokolsky.

- David Fahey
Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles