Born 1905, Serge Balkin was a celebrated photographer during his twenty-plus year career at Condé Nast Publications. An undeterred workhorse, Balkin’s images ran in Vogue, Glamour, and House & Garden. He used both black & white and color film to capture urban street scenes, celebrity portraits, fashion spreads, and home interiors, all with a sense of immediacy and elegance.
Fashion photography by Serge Balkin in the 1940s
In 1950, Balkin collaborated with fellow Condé Nast photographers Fredrich Baker, Constantin Joffé and Herbert Matter in opening a studio for advertising photography called Studio Associates, Inc. Outside of his career, Balkin was also known for his marriage to Nina Leen, one of the first female photographers to work for Life magazine.
Balkin died in 1990 at the age of 84. These stunning photos are part of his work that Serge Balkin took portraits of classic beauties in the 1940s.
Model in a double-breasted navy blue suit from a Vogue pattern, photo by Serge Balkin, Vogue, October 1944
Actress Carole Landis wears a short-sleeved blue dress from a Vogue Pattern together with matching gloves and John Frederics veiled hat, photo by Serge Balkin, 1945
Bijou Barrington in grass-green shantung dress with slot neckline, unpressed pleats, Coro pin, Vogue belts, photo by Serge Balkin, Glamour, 1945
Model is wearing fisherman blue beach-suit with green belt by Carolyn Schnurer, photo by Serge Balkin, 1945
Model is wearing knotted-fringe beach stole of unbleached printed muslin by June Groff, photo by Serge Balkin, Vogue, January 1945
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