Ide Collar, one of Outerbridge's most iconic photographs, was also his first advertising assignment, and was published in Vanity Fair magazine the year after it was made. This was a period when some photographers were intent on establishing their medium as a fine art, and would have frowned on its use for commercial work. Outerbridge embraced both possibilities. His dramatic use of light and dark, his paring down of objects to basic forms, and the contrast of the geometric checkerboard with the curving men's shirt collar demonstrate his stylistic engagement with the art of the time.
Gallery label from American Modern: Hopper to O'Keeffe, August 17, 2013–January 26, 2014.
