Posted January 16, 2025

Image at right: Robert Farber, Empire Diner, 1979/2017. Sublimated photograph on ChromaLuxe aluminum, 40 x 60 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

The Vero Beach Museum of Art is pleased to present Timeless: Robert Farber’s Fashion Photography on view in the Stark Gallery from February 10 through August 31, 2025. This original exhibition is curated by the Vero Beach Museum of Art’s Chief Curator, Caitlin Swindell.

Robert Farber (b. 1944) is a renowned photographer whose five-decade career spans both commercial and fine art photography. His diverse portfolio includes subjects ranging from fashion and portraiture to still life and landscapes, captured from around the world. This exhibition features two of his fashion-related series: “Vintage Fashion,” primarily drawn from his commercial work, and “Deterioration,” a series of fashion photographs transformed by the natural aging of their film transparencies. Over time, exposure to heat, humidity, and other environmental factors caused the film to react chemically, resulting in vivid, surreal distortions that give the images an unexpected, almost otherworldly quality.

Farber, a self-taught artist, began his photography career in New York City in the 1970s. Since then, his work has appeared in major publications such as Vogue, GQ, Elle, and Vanity Fair. He photographed numerous editorial advertisements and commercials for major brands and companies such as Christian Dior, Bill Blass, Revlon, Bloomingdale’s, Marshall Fields, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Farber captured some of the most iconic models of his time, including Gia Carangi (often considered the first supermodel), Janice Dickinson, Apollonia van Ravenstein, Iman, Beverly Johnson, Carol Alt, Christie Brinkley, and Linda Evangelista. Many of these models appear in the works included in the exhibition, but in some cases, the aging of the original film has obscured or altered their features, transforming the images into abstract expressions of fashion and beauty.

Timeless brings together these two fashion-related series for the first time in a museum exhibition, showcasing the breadth of Farber’s work in this genre. The show highlights his creative vision, his collaboration with models and brands, and his ability to reflect on the passage of time—whether by referencing past styles or allowing time itself to shape the final image. The exhibition offers a unique perspective on the intersection of Farber’s artistic and commercial work, exploring the lasting impact of his contributions to the world of fashion photography.