On the cover: After more than 50 years, Melvin Sokolsky continues to push the envelope of the fashion world with his unique vision and dramatic set design, as seen in this image for Vogue Deutsch.

Cover photo: © Melvin Sokolsky

Home and Studio: Los Angeles (sokolsky.com). Represented by the Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles. After moving his studio to Los Angeles in the 1970s, he found that his work — especially his commercial work — took him all over the world, so he eventually let the studio go. His present studio is in his home, and includes a custom-designed south-facing balcony with the ability to filter and block light.

Family Life: Lives with his wife, Button, married for many years. They have a son, Bing, a respected cinematographer whose credits include "NYPD Blue" and "Numbers."...

For more than half a century, photographer Melvin Sokolsky has blazed a trail across the fashion, celebrity and advertising world with his uniquely personal point of view.

Melvin Sokolsky was 18 years old, on his way to look at a studio to share in New York. He was with his girlfriend — now his wife — Button. The door on the seventh floor was opened by "a balding, chubbyish man with a little tummy, and he had a very thick accent. And I was like a gymnast. I looked at him as a guy who doesn't take care of himself. That was my mentality at that time. All sorts of criteria, of judgment, suspicion; I had it all."

The man asked if he could photograph Sokolsky's girlfriend. While he was setting up, Sokolsky wandered around the studio, where there were matted prints...

The International Photography Awards recently announced the recipients of the first-ever Lucie Awards, acknowledging photographers' achievements from around the world in various categories.

Chris Frazer-Smith of the U.K. received honors as IPA's Photographer of the Year, which includes a $10,000 prize. Phil Borges won the Lucie Humanitarian Award and Robert Evans took home the Visionary Award. Henri Cartier-Bresson also was given an award for Lifetime Achievement in Photography.

Other Lucie Award recipients for outstanding achievement in their respective fields include...