Bell was an American fashion and portrait photographer active in the 1950s and 1960s, known for his refined, elegant style and his editorial work for major fashion publications, including Vogue as well as the creation of many successful advertising campaigns—the Jantzen Smile campaign, the Dunbar furniture line… Condé Nast features many of his published photographs—which embodied mid-century sophistication, careful composition, beautiful and innovative staging, and attention to the sculptural qualities of the human form—in both their on-line collections and their unlimited editions.
Bell photographed leading models and cultural figures of the era. His work appeared on several Vogue covers, placing him within the circle of important postwar fashion image-makers who helped define American style in the post-war Golden Age of American fashion photography
His aesthetic bridged classic studio discipline with the emerging glamour and personality-driven portraiture that would characterize the 1960s. He embraced and even led the pop and op art trends, psychedelia and silk screen poster style—eventually expanding his oeuvre to textile and object design.
