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 .
extractive_keyphrases: feels negatives restored fashion subject oversharp worked interesting beautiful admit young new publishing captured photographed credit work lives images exhibition great color sophistication smith capucine irving pays years street bonni raised delightful ms scenes look dambier curious georges paris natural dominate gallery