Check out this beautiful 1960s fashion advertisement for Yves Saint Laurent conducted by Jean Widmer, who was a student of Johannes Itten. (A legendary color theorist) Additionally to art directing, Widmer also worked as a photographer and eventually became a faculty member of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, (Paris) where he remodeled the graphic design curriculum, stressing mastery of typography and color as fundamental skills. in the 70s, along with his wife, Widmer funded his own agency, and he became notorious for his clever identity system designs. In 2001 Jean Widmer received the distinction of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres.

Now, going back to the photograph taken by Jean Widmer I’ve posted above…The more I look at it, the more I question myself about what is modern, and wonder if the idea of modernity remains modern? Are we living in modern times or are we simply reminiscing about modernity? – Its amazing how despite the simplicity of this photograph, there’s even much more complexity that simply can’t be ignored.