Erwin Blumenfeld

An extensive study of Blumenfeld's early work.

In the 1940s Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969) became one of America's top fashion photographers, and eventually the highest paid photographer in the world. His work for "Vogue" and "Harper's Bazaar" remains influential. But before he arrived in New York--fleeing Nazi-occupied Paris via Morocco in 1941--he spent his twenties in Amsterdam. This first major book to focus on Blumenfeld's early work picks up all the elements that drove his later fame. As a failing shop owner who made portraits of his clients for extra money while also experimenting with Dadaist photocollage, Blumenfeld already had a playful, improvisational style--the beginnings of the slightly surreal lighting and styling that would one day earn him comparisons to Cecil Beaton and Man Ray. Of his shop's 1935 bankruptcy, he later wrote "And so, when there was really no way out, I became a "photographer."" These are the roots of that fortuitous second career.

By turns acerbic, self-mocking, playful, even absurd, the autobiography of Erwin Blumenfeld, one of the century’s best-known photographers, is a compelling, virtuoso account of an extraordinary man. All his subjects - his Jewish family, the Germans, the Vichy French, his models, New York publishers - are dealt equal measures of wit, mockery and merciless irony. He spares himself least of all. Born in turn-of-the-century Berlin, Blumenfeld was drafted in to serve in the First World War, first as an ambulance driver (although he couldn’t drive), and then as a book-keeper at a field brothel. Between the wars he became part of an avant-garde circle that included such artists as George Grosz, and members of the Dada movement. During the Second World War, Blumenfeld was interned in a series of French camps, but eventually arrived in New York, where he found work with Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, producing some of their most memorable covers and becoming fashion’s highest-paid photographer. By the creator of some of the most striking and influential photographs ever taken, Blumenfeld’s autobiography is a biting and iconoclastic take on the century. Gripping and full of insight, it is the story of an exceptional life.

One of the greatest fashion photographers of all time, Erwin Blumenfeld is also recognized as one of the most talented and profoundly erotic portrayers of the nude. He aimed to persuade his audience of the magical beauty of the female form, and to show the world that the nudes of the great master painters--from Botticelli to Ingres--could be challenged by the magical potential of the darkroom. Blumenfeld was an inspired innovator who experimented with solarizations, reticulations, negative-positive combinations, and chemical manipulations to enhance the mystery of his images. 'The Naked and the Veiled' features, in both color and duotone, many photographs never before published, as well as Blumenfeld's famous shots such as Nude under Wet Silk. The text by Yorick Blumenfeld, the photographer's son, provides unusual insights into the work and brings a greater understanding of these highly original and complex images. This book shows the full range of Blumenfeld's astounding inventiveness, from the classic to the surreal to the abstract, from 1930s Amsterdam to 1960s New York. It will interest not only those who are already familiar with Blumenfeld's fashion photographs, but anyone interested in the history of the nude in photography who wishes to see the subject treated by one of the twentieth century's undisputed masters.

A complete introduction to photography, this book is an essential resource for students across the visual arts. This accessible, inspirational guide explores the subjects and themes that have always obsessed photographers and explains technique in a clear and simple way. It introduces the work of the masters of the art as well as showing fresh, dynamic images created by young photographers from all over the world. The book also provides a valuable overview of careers in photography and a comprehensive reference section, including a glossary of technical vocabulary. This second edition has been extensively updated, with a greater range of visual examples from master photographers and up-to-date information on digital photography.