Melvin Sokolsky

Melvin Sokolsky (1933–2022) was a visionary American photographer and director whose inventive, surreal imagery redefined the possibilities of fashion photography in the mid-20th century. Known for his editorial work for Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, and The New York Times, Sokolsky approached photography with a cinematic and conceptual flair that challenged the boundaries between art, fashion, and illusion. His most iconic body of work, the Bubble Series, exemplifies his imaginative style—featuring model Simone D’Aillencourt floating above the Seine in a transparent sphere, decades before digital manipulation became a tool in the photographic arsenal.

Born in New York City, Sokolsky had no formal training in photography. He taught himself through trial and error using his father’s box camera and absorbed lessons from conversations with working commercial photographers. A formative childhood memory of viewing Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights—and later, fever dreams of flying in a bubble over distant lands—inspired the fantastical imagery that would become his signature. This early exposure to surrealism planted the seeds for a lifelong commitment to visual storytelling rooted in the impossible.

Emerging during the golden age of editorial photography in the 1950s through the 1970s, Sokolsky was among a select group of artists who elevated fashion imagery to the level of high art. His work brought conceptual daring and technical precision to the pages of the world’s most influential magazines, where innovative photographers were expected to produce striking visuals to match the boldness of the writing. For Sokolsky, there was no line between editorial and advertising—only the challenge of delivering “the full shot,” as he once said.

Sokolsky’s photographs blend elegance with illusion, employing intricate sets, unexpected perspectives, and physical experimentation to create visual metaphors. From shrinking models to dollhouse proportions to placing them in levitating orbs, his work never relied on post-production trickery. Instead, it was grounded in meticulous planning and an instinct for drama, grace, and visual poetry.

In addition to his photographic achievements, Sokolsky was a pioneer in commercial filmmaking. By the late 1960s, he had transitioned into directing and working as a cameraman, applying his sense of narrative and aesthetics to moving images. His contributions to visual culture helped reshape how fashion and advertising were conceived, making room for imagination, wit, and theatricality.

Sokolsky’s photographs are held in the permanent collections of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. His legacy endures as one of the most inventive artists to ever work within the fashion genre, remembered for expanding the creative potential of photography through bold vision and fearless execution.