Fred Lyon’s photography career started when he apprenticed at age 14 at the Gabriel Moulin photography studio before enrolling in Art Center School in Los Angeles. During WWII, Fred was a Navy Photographer, he wrote news and feature stories that were released to wire services and national magazines. He also covered White House events, Fred photographed 5 presidents in his career. Fred then moved to New York where he worked at the Philip Wilcox Studios on Park Avenue, he was soon shooting for top New York fashion houses. In 1946 Lyon returned to California, where he started his freelance career. He was hired by such magazines as House & Garden, Vogue, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Seventeen, Life and Look. Fred has been fetured in over 50 books and in 1949 the San Francisco Museum of Art gave him his first show. Since then Fred has been shown in many gallerys and has been in many books. His time in recent years has been deticated to assembling his archive of his beloved home town, San Francisco in the 1940s and 50s. Which is currently being shown at Modernbook Gallery in San Francisco, located at 49 Geary St.
Upon entering the gallery you get a since of nostalgia. The old black and white photographs not only have great images of the old San Francisco, but have an interesting angle as well. Fred has many images from a bird’s point of view, like pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge from one of the tiers and pictures from the roofs of buildings. You can see how San Francisco has changed and how it is this same. What buildings still look the same, and what buildings have been modernized. Also how the fashion has changed.
The obvious change is the hemlines are much shorter. Women’s knees being exposed is not risqué. Clothes also are much tighter now. Many styles now a days are very form fitting, but in the 50s big fluffy poodle skirts and a-line skirts were a hip trend. Also many trends from the 50s are still wore today, like belting garments at the waist. Also floral pattern fabric was very in the 50s, and is also around today. Mens fashion has also changed dramatically. The suit is now only used for business men and for weddings, but in the 50s the suit was a every day outfit for many men.
Durring the 50s American was recovering from the Cold War and WWII. This was also the beginning decade of the Spaced Race between the US and the Soviet Union. Also time of the Baby Boom and the beginning of Rock n Roll. The world was conforming to the new times and was still very conservative. America today is fighting a war and is trying to conform to the new time and all of the digital advances that are being made. Science is changing the world rapidly. The one thing the new age is not though is Conservative. The new generation is anything but conservative. The world is advancing and changing in the blink of an eye and it’s all about the new generation. Which is said to be even bigger then the baby boom.
All of these thing influenced Mr. Lyon, and you can tell from his work. The cutting edge and the breathe of fresh air that he brings to the normal photography of the 1950s is refreshing. The un-conservative and out of the box attitude of his photos is very revolutionary, very rebellious of the normal.
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