Odalisque I and II, 1943

Horst remained the classicist among photographers. Women, he once said, he photographed like goddesses: “almost unattainable, slightly statuesque, and in Olympian peace.” Stage-like settings along with all kinds of props and accessories emphasize his affinity to the classic world - although under Horst’s direction, plaster might mutate into marble and pinchbeck into gold. In his best pictures, he limited himself to a few details. In addition, it is the light - the direction from which it falls, forming highlights and deep shadows - that gives the photograph the desired drama. “Lighting,” Horst once admitted, “is more complex than one thinks.