The Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech is paying tribute to the late American photographer David Seidner with a major retrospective running through August 2, 2026. This marks the first time Seidner’s work has been shown in Morocco, more than twenty years after his passing.
Titled David Seidner – Yves Saint Laurent, the exhibition explores the close creative bond that formed between the photographer and the legendary designer beginning in 1982. From that relationship emerged some of the fashion house’s most iconic imagery, including the 1983 campaign for the fragrance Paris—now a visual emblem of the brand. This artistic dialogue blended elegance and sensuality, revealing a shared pursuit of timeless beauty and refined simplicity.
Seidner, who began his artistic journey in Paris as a teenager, quickly carved out a distinctive visual language. His work, rich with allusions to classical painting and antiquity, was known for its precision and sculptural compositions. He played with light, contrast, and form to create images that were both emotionally charged and technically exacting. His photographs left a lasting impression on the fashion and art scenes of the 1980s and 1990s.
Curated by Violeta Sanchez—a muse and close collaborator of Seidner’s—the exhibition was developed in partnership with the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Paris and the International Center of Photography in New York. Together, they’ve crafted a deeply personal and rigorous exploration of Seidner’s career, offering insight into the complexity and emotional resonance of his artistic legacy.
A richly illustrated exhibition catalogue accompanies the show, featuring essays by Marc Donnadieu, Samia Saouma, Olivier Saillard, Robert McElroy, and Violeta Sanchez, with a foreword by Pierre Bergé. The publication serves as a valuable resource for understanding the depth of Seidner’s work and its ongoing influence on contemporary photography.
Housed in the museum’s temporary gallery space, the exhibition invites visitors to (re)discover the eye of a photographer for whom image-making was as much about capturing light as preserving memory. Seidner’s art remains a testament to the enduring power of visual storytelling, balancing classical rigor with emotional nuance.
