During his brief, but exceptional career in fashion and photography, Leslie Gill (1908-1958) defied expectations of editorial images by creating compositions that were commercially viable while simultaneously fulfilling his artistic aspirations. While working as the Art Director of House Beautiful, Gill began to make his own photographs, unsatisfied with the ability of staff photographers to translate his ideas to images. Gill collected artwork, memorabilia, and found objects for use in his work, creating relationships of shape, tone, and tactile properties between these objects. His images began to appear regularly in Harper's Bazaar, where he collaborated with visionary art director Alexey Brodovitch, helping to revolutionize approaches to graphic design. 

Gill made significant technical achievements in his field, adapting theatrical lighting equipment for specialized use by still life photographers, as well as being one of the first artists to experiment with 8x10 inch format Kodachrome film.

Gill's work appeared in the pages of numerous magazines, including Life, Harper's Bazaar, McCall's, Town & Country, and Holiday.