Photographers Candid photography
Lucien Clergue is a French photographer of black and white photography, the first photographer elected a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts.
Lucien Clergue is one of the most famous photographers in France and founder of the annual Arles Festival, which has become the main event in the world of artistic photography, attended by up to 100,000 people. His famous photographic works - modernist black and white studies of female nudes, harlequins, dead animals, gypsies and bullfighting - are considered exemplary of the photographer-artist. Clergue is also known for his friendship with Pablo Picasso, which lasted some 30 years, until the artist's death.
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was a pivotal figure in American realism, celebrated for his profound and uncompromising portrayal of the human figure. Born on July 25, 1844, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Eakins dedicated his life to depicting authentic human experiences and emotions through painting, sculpture, and photography.
Eakins' education in art began at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and extended to studying abroad in Europe, where he was influenced by French realists and the anatomical precision in their work. His approach combined rigorous study of the human form with a realistic portrayal of American life, making significant contributions to both art and educational practices in the United States.
His notable works include "The Gross Clinic" and "Max Schmitt in a Single Scull," which showcase his mastery in combining technical skill with emotional depth. These pieces not only depict scenes from everyday life but also incorporate a level of detail that reveals Eakins' deep respect for the individuality and inner life of his subjects. Despite facing criticism during his lifetime, particularly for his unflinching realism and subjects considered controversial at the time, Eakins was posthumously recognized as one of America's foremost painters.
For those interested in learning more about Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins' life, works, and his impact on American art, visiting collections that feature his work, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, can offer deeper insights.
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Fernand Fonssagrives, born Fernand Vigoureux, is a French and American fashion photographer.
As a young man he moved to New York and became one of the world's leading fashion photographers of the 1940s and 1950s, shooting for Vogue, Town and Country and Harper's Bazaar magazines. Fonssagrives' iconic works are photos of nude women with patterns of sun reflections on their skin. In a unique partnership with his wife, legendary model Lisa Fonssagrives, he created his most significant works.
Francis Giacobetti is a French photographer and filmmaker.
In 1984 he began a series of celebrity photographs that included Federico Fellini, Stephen Hawking, Françoise Sagan, Philippe Starck, Yehudi Menuhin and others, over 200 in all. Known for being on the border between photography and painting, between craft and art, Francis Giacobetti has puzzled and delighted art masters with his series (Zebras, Iris, Anthem, numerous Bacon portraits). Like many photographers, he celebrates the beauty and perfection of the human body.
Giacobetti is also the director of the film Emmanuelle l'Antivierge (1975).
Zanele Muholi is a South African photographer and LGBT activist.
She works in the fields of photography, video and installation. Muholi's work focuses on race, gender and sexuality, with the bulk of her work documenting and celebrating the lives of black lesbians, gays, transgender and intersex people in South Africa.
Judith Samen is a German photographic artist.
She studied at art academies in Münster and Düsseldorf and her works include photography, spatial installations, drawings, videos and performances.
Judith Samen's art moves between staging and the authenticity of human existence. Her work involves corporeality, food and elements of art history and everyday life. She formulates works between poetry and radicalism in her search for unseen and moving pictorial creations. She combines vulnerability and humor, transience and deep physical awareness with tragedy and comedy, in the process expanding the familiar into the absurd.
Bert Stern, real name Bertram Stern, is an American fashion photographer and documentary filmmaker.
His career began with the iconic and legendary Smirnoff Vodka advertising campaign in 1955. Using a well-equipped studio, Stern experimented with many of the latest techniques, including videotaping, screen printing, photo offset combinations and computer prints. His brilliant work made him a star in the advertising world, photographing advertising campaigns for Canon, Dupont, Pepsi-Cola, US Steel and Volkswagen brands. One of the high points of Bert Stern's career was working for Vogue in the 1960s.
Despite his drug addiction, the fashion photographer was sought after by Madison Avenue, Hollywood and the international fashion scene for decades.
Stern was one of the last photographers to shoot Marilyn Monroe in June and July 1962, six months before her death. Some of these photographs were published in Vogue magazine. In 1982, Bert Stern published The Last Sitting, a book that includes many of his more than 2,500 images, including those that Monroe did not like and were crossed out.
Stern directed and cinematographed the films Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959), A Date with an Angel (1987), and The Unknown Marilyn (2012).
Jock Sturges is an American photographer living in Seattle, Washington.
After serving in the Army, Jock earned a Master of Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and studied psychology. Diligently and extensively photographed teenagers on nude beaches in California, France or Ireland. This attracted the attention of law enforcement, but the artistic community of the United States and Europe spoke in defense of the photographer, and in the end he was not charged.
But after that Jock Sturges became popular: he published more than 10 personal albums, as a master of children's and teenage pictures he organized many solo exhibitions and took part in the same number of group exhibitions. However, these exhibitions were often accompanied by high-profile scandals, one of which happened in Russia in 2016: senators accused the photographer of distributing child pornography.
Nichole Velasquez is an American photographic artist.
He explores the detachment of color and form from their descriptive functions on analog film. His goal is to allow the emotional experience to take center stage in interpreting the work. Velázquez works with analog film, exploring emotional memories through the technique of multiple exposures. He worked with material scientists at the Technical University of Berlin to create silver plates, using mirrors as mediators for human color perception.
Baron Wilhelm Ivan Friederich August von Gloeden, commonly known as Baron von Gloeden, was a German photographer who lived and worked in Italy. One of the greatest masters of male nudity, a precursor of homosexual photography and a forerunner of performance art.
Wilhelm von Gloeden is mainly known for his pastoral photographs of nude Sicilian boys, which usually feature props such as wreaths or amphorae, suggestive of ancient Greece or Italy. From a contemporary perspective, his work is commendable for its controlled use of lighting, as well as the often elegant poses of his models. His innovations include the use of photofilters and special cosmetics (a mixture of milk, olive oil and glycerine) to mask skin imperfections.
Ellen von Unwerth is a German photographer, director, and model.
She began her career as a photo model and later became a fashion and advertising photographer. Unwerth's work has been published in many fashion magazines, and she is best known for her playfully erotic shots of female pop musicians and models.
Chris von Wangenheim is a German fashion photographer and one of the most avant-garde image-makers of the 20th century.
In his relatively short career (1968 to 1981) Chris von Wangenheim created legendary images for all the leading fashion publications of the 70's including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Interview. He also created unforgettable ad campaigns for Valentino, Dior, Calvin Klein and Revlon.
At the height of his success, Chris died in a car accident in 1981 at the age of 39, leaving behind a tremendous legacy.
Edward Henry Weston, an American photographer, emerged as a significant figure in early to mid-20th-century photography, renowned for his meticulously composed, sharply focused images that spanned natural forms, landscapes, and nudes. His journey into photography began at a young age, receiving his first camera at 16 and eventually shaping a career that challenged and transformed the medium's artistic scope.
Edward Weston's move to California marked a pivotal shift in his career, where his interactions with other artists and his explorations of nature led to a distinct style characterized by its precision and emphasis on the intrinsic beauty of his subjects. His time in Mexico was particularly transformative, influencing his artistic direction significantly through encounters with key figures of the Mexican Renaissance and his introspective work that focused on detail and form.
Throughout his career, Edward Weston's work underwent several evolutions, moving from Pictorialism to a more direct and detailed approach, culminating in his involvement with the f/64 group, which advocated for photography that emphasized clarity and depth. His dedication to capturing the essence of his subjects without manipulation set new standards in the field, inspiring generations of photographers.
Weston's legacy is celebrated in numerous retrospectives and his influence continues in modern photography, with his works residing in prestigious institutions and collections worldwide. His deep connection to nature and commitment to photographic purity remain enduring aspects of his contribution to the art form.
For art collectors and enthusiasts, Edward Weston's work represents a fascinating intersection of artistic innovation and profound respect for the natural world, making his photographs coveted pieces in the realms of art and antiques. To stay updated on sales and auctions related to Edward Weston's work, subscribing for updates is a prudent step to ensure you remain informed about opportunities to acquire pieces connected to this influential artist.