Contemporary photography’s march into the realm of fine art owes much to the pioneering work of Robert Mapplethorpe. But it feels that until now fashion photography hasn’t really gotten a look in. Before Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures we made a film called In Vogue: The Editor’s Eye and were struck by the brilliance of work by photographer artists using the camera as their medium.

An auction at Sotheby’s shines a light on the unacknowledged genius of fashion photographers from Irving Penn to Peter Lindbergh and many more.

From Sotheby’s website:

It’s already been something of a landmark year for fashion photography with a major exhibition at London’s National Portrait Gallery celebrating the centenary of British Vogue. Many of the magazine’s most celebrated photographers feature in Sotheby’s upcoming Photographs auction (19 May). Click ahead to see seven sale highlights by the likes of Richard Avedon and Irving Penn plus the stories behind their famous images.