Naundorf’s training as a painter and her friendship with the great fashion photographer Horst P. Horst (1906-1999) are both present in her work, the former in her creative treatment of photographic ink and the use of exposure techniques applied destructively on the image, and the latter in her sense of dignity, great care for composition and the use of the element of surprise. Through her distressed, hazy images, Naundorf looks back at a century-old tradition of commercial fashion photography that had a tight connection with the art of its time; as such, her work short-circuits the past and the present, whilst joining the contemporary vanguard of the same tradition that it is referencing.

As they pose nonchalantly in some of the world’s most expensive and rare garments surrounded by equally intricate and rarely seen scenery and objects, Naundorf’s women certainly flirt with nostalgia. But the sense of subtle disappointment that emanates from these images is not just related to missing a golden era long past: portrayed as exotic and flamboyant creatures hidden behind layers of corrupted ink and blurred colours, Naundorf’s subjects appear distant and unobtainable, even mythical, attributes that we often relate with high fashion in general. If we are feeling nostalgic about Naundorf’s images, it’s not because we are missing an experience we’ve had before, but because we're missing out on an experience that only a few can have —that is, being immersed in wealth, timelessness, luxury and endless, voluminous folds of silk chiffon.

Edited 10 jan 2016: A simile that compared Cathleen Naundorf's work with "vintage postcards" was removed.