Oana Ivan Gallery is dedicating a major exhibition to Gilles Bensimon. More than 50 photographs taken between 1986 and 2021 are on display — some now iconic, others more intimate and rarely shown. Together, they paint the portrait of a vision that shaped the aesthetics of fashion and reinvented, in its time, the way women are represented.
Born in 1944 in Paris, Gilles Bensimon first explored the world of art through drawing before turning to photography. Recruited by Elle magazine in 1967, he played an active role in launching its American edition in 1985, becoming its creative director in 1999. This position marked a decisive turning point: his luminous, sensual, and relaxed style established itself as one of the most influential visual languages of the era. He immortalized the greatest icons of fashion, from Linda Evangelista to Naomi Campbell, from Madonna to Charlize Theron.
The exhibition presented by Oana Ivan Gallery retraces this trajectory through a series of images that convey a sense of freshness, elegance, and freedom. The photographer celebrates women in all their forms: strong, independent, and radiant. “It is women who have given me everything,” he says.
The exhibition includes portraits that have become visual landmarks: Linda Evangelista captured in a classic pose in 1989, Azzedine Alaïa photographed in the midst of creation in 1994, Gisele Bündchen radiating timeless youth in 2000, and Hailey Bieber embodying a new generation in 2017. Each image testifies to a singular relationship between the photographer and his subject — a complicity founded on trust, naturally.
But beyond glamour, Bensimon also explores, in his personal series, light, material, and paper, transforming photography into a form of visual writing. This approach, which he describes as “therapeutic,” reflects an ongoing pursuit shared by many renowned photographers: “I am never entirely satisfied with my photographs… my favorite is the one I will take tomorrow.”
Close to the greatest couturiers — from Karl Lagerfeld to Azzedine Alaïa — Gilles Bensimon has also accompanied the emergence of generations of muses and contributed to shaping the visual narrative of their aura. The images exhibited in Paris are a kind of ode to style, and at the same time a tribute to the very essence of femininity.
Gilles Bensimon’s photographs are on display at the Oana Ivan gallery in Paris until October 4, 2025.
