The creation of a Horst photograph was a collaborative process, involving the talents of the photographer and model, art director, fashion editor, studio assistants and set technicians. The modelling profession was still in its infancy in the 1930s and many of those who posed under the hot studio lights were stylish friends of the magazine’s staff, often actresses or aristocrats.

Horst’s photographs of the Surrealism period feature mysterious, whimsical and surreal elements combined with his classical aesthetic. He created trompe l’oeil still-life, photographed the surreal-infused dress designs of his friend Elsa Schiaparelli and collaborated with the artist Salvador Dalí.

Horst’s portraits captured a diverse range of subjects, from artists and writers to presidents and members of royal families. In the 1930s, with the looming shadow of World War II, the escapist allure of theaters and cinemas grew increasingly popular. Horst began photographing these new, classless celebrities, portraying them both in costume and as themselves.

The 1930s ushered in technical advancements in colour photography. Horst adapted quickly to a new visual vocabulary, creating some of Vogue’s most dazzling colour images. Horst’s colour photographs are rarely exhibited because few vintage prints exist.

In addition to Horst's fashion, beauty and portrait photography, he also created work showing the homes and tastes of prominent creatives. Collaborating with his friend and colleague, Diana Vreeland, who worked for Harper’s BAZAAR and later Vogue, Horst produced a series of photographs for the magazine’s “Fashions in Living” section.

This specially curated section is both a tribute to the legendary Horst P. Horst and a lyrical reflection on the evolution of Chinese fashion photography over the past thirty years. Showcasing the works of Feng Hai, Mei Yuan Gui, Trunk Xu, Zeng Wu, and Nick Yang, the presentation reveals a visual language where elegance meets enigma. Through the sculptural presence of the body, the architecture of composition, and the fleeting poetry of light and shadow, these photographers craft images that resonate with timeless beauty and quiet intensity.