Who needs the Oscars - when all of Hollywood is in Vienna? At the Museum of Photography WestLicht, the exhibition Edward Steichen. In High Fashion, which opened on Tuesday evening, the stars of the 1920s and '30s are all over the place: the very young Katharine Hepburn poses in a mackintosh, Gary Cooper smiles charmingly in a suit and tie and Marlene Dietrich lolls lasciviously on the sofa. Edward Steichen, one of the most important photographers of the 20th century, staged them for Vogue and Vanity Fair and made history with them. Already a famous photographer before that, Steichen revolutionised fashion photography during his time as chief photographer of the Condé Nast publishing house and still influences it today, co-curator William A. Ewing explained in his exciting opening speech. Steichen put the stars in the latest models and gave the previously unknown mannequins an identity, staged fashion for the first time in such a way that readers could identify with it perfectly. The numerous opening guests on Tuesday were also amazed by the many stars, the grandiose fashion and Steichen's great photographic art on the basis of the valuable 200 vintage prints. The crowd in the Museum of Photography WestLicht was in no way inferior to that on the Red Carpet at the Oscars!

Photos: Csaba Gyönös/WestLicht