Technical innovation combines with a sly and slightly surreal sense of humor in Melvin Sokolsky’s photographs of models encased in bubbles. Originally taken to showcase the Spring 1963 collections, these images continue to surprise and remain some of the most enduring fashion images of the last century.

A self-taught student of art history, Sokolsky began photographing for magazines in the 1950s. His lively visual imagination drew the attention of Harper’s Bazaar art director Henry Wolf, who made use of Sokolsky’s unconventional approach. Sokolsky’s standards for his own work were adamantly high, whether produced for credited editorial assignments or published anonymously for advertisers. He said, "I resented the attitude that ‘This is editorial and this is advertising.’ I always felt, why dilute it? Why not always go for the full shot?"