UNWERTH, Ellen von

Ellen von UNWERTH (b.1954, in Frankfurt)

Ellen von UNWERTH began her career as a fashion model, before becoming a fashion, editorial, and advertising photographer. In Munich, she would work as a circus magician's assistant for three years. At the age of twenty while walking down the street, she was asked by a photographer if she ever thought about having a modeling career. She moved to Paris where she had a successful modeling career for seven years. However, she felt that as a model, she did not have the freedom to decide where and how her image would be used. After an impromptu photo shoot in Kenya she realized that the demand for her photography skills outgrew her demand as a model. Her first notable work was when she first photographed Claudia Schiffer in 1989. Her work has been published in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Interview, The Face, Arena, Twill, L'Uomo Vogue, I-D, and Playboy, and she has published several books of photography. She also did promotional photography for Duran Duran and did some photography for their albums 'Liberty' and 'Medazzaland'. Her work has been used on other album covers including Bananarama's 'Pop Life' (1991), Janet Jackson's 'The Velvet Rope' (1997), Dido's 'Life for Rent' (2003), Britney Spears' 'Blackout' (2007) and Rihanna's 'Rated R' and 'Talk That Talk', a.o.

Photo books by as wel as with works by Ellen von UNWERTH

• 'Snaps' (1994); 'Couples' (1998, 2011); 'Wicked' (1999); 'Stern-Portfolio' (2002); 'Revenge' (2003); 'Omahyra & Boyd' (2005); 'Plumes et Dentelles' (2005); 'Fräulein' (2009, 2011, 2017, 2021); 'The Story Of Olga' (2012, 2016); 'Heimat' (2017, 2024); 'Female View: Modefotografinnen von der Moderne bis zum Digitalen Zeitalter' (2022, zusammen mit Arbeiten von Lillian BASSMAN, Sibylle BERGEMANN, Louise DAHL-WOLFE, Madame d’ORA, GABO, Ingeborg HOPPE, Nadine IJEWERE, Liv LIBERG, Ute MAHLER, Charlotte MARCH, Lee MILLER, Sarah MOON, Amber PINKERTON, Elizaveta PORODINA, Regina RELANG, Bettina RHEIMS, Charlotte ROHRBACH, Alice SPRINGS (June NEWTON), Deborah TURBEVILLE sowie von YVA);

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