Arthur Elgort is a well known fashion photographer. He's been published in many magazines, including Vogue, Madmoiselle, New Yorker, Italian Vanity Fair, and many more. He's worked with many of the top models, such as Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Iman, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer, and many, many more.
Arthur Elgort's Models Manual is a mixture of his published photographs, a lot of behind-the-scenes shots, advice for both models and photographers, insights into the fashion industry, and random thoughts from the photographer, the models, art directors and editors. Reading it feels like getting an inside look at the industry at the time.
The book was published in 1993, at a time when models were as famous as movie stars or rock stars, and in some cases even more so. That is evident in this book. I’ve owned it ever since and I keep going back to it as a source of inspiration. Definitely a recommended book. If you’re at all interested in fashion, swimwear, portraiture, or just the supermodels of the 80’s and 90’s, then this book will certainly make you happy.

The book was published in 1993, at a time when models were as famous as movie stars or rock stars, and in some cases even more so. That is evident in this book. I’ve owned it ever since and I keep going back to it as a source of inspiration. Definitely a recommended book. If you’re at all interested in fashion, swimwear, portraiture, or just the supermodels of the 80’s and 90’s, then this book will certainly make you happy.

The design of the book itself is very “90’s”, when graphic designers were using desktop publishing software effectively for the first time and were exploring the possibilities. There are a ton of different fonts used, colours, columns are small, big, even on top of each other. It feels a little dated in that sense, but for me that’s part of the charm of the book.
What really counts though, is the content. The photography is amazing and the advice sound. If you’re an aspiring model, you’ll learn a lot from this book. And not just about posing, but about the industry and working with photographers. It give you the opportunity to get close and personal with the supermodels of the time. Similarly, if you’re a photographer (aspiring or pro), you’ll find this book a constant source of information and inspiration. Definitely recommended.