Collar, Tie, Pin ,

1922

<p> For photographs like <em>Collar, Tie, Pin</em>, Outerbridge would typically make precise notes on the lighting before composing the still life in the studio. Using a crisp focus, he highlighted the geometries and patterns of objects. He printed his images on platinum photo paper, a material that enhances tonal subtlety and brings out fine-grained details. Outerbridge is most celebrated for bringing the experimentation of early twentieth-century art to the world of commercial photography. After working as a designer and illustrator in New York City, he enrolled in the Clarence H. White School of Photography in 1921 and began publishing his work in magazines like <em>Vanity Fair</em>. Outerbridge regarded his photographs first and foremost as art, which he described as “life seen through man’s inner craving for perfection and beauty—his escape from the sordid realities of life into a world of his imagining.” </p>