The Photographic Art of Hoyningen-Huene

About this book

George Hoyningen-Huene was born into the privileged world of the Russian aristocracy at the turn of the century. In Paris as a refugee from the Revolution he worked for Vogue first as an illustrator and then as a supremely successful fashion photographer. Confidently even imperiously he created unprecedented images of perfect elegance by means of models clothes and above all the manipulation of light. Moving in the 1930s to Harpers Bazaar he extended his range to portraiture and travel capturing artists composers Hollywood stars and the landscapes of Africa Greece Egypt and Mexico in timeless visions of classical harmony. Two hundred and twenty-five superbly reproduced color and duotone illustrations display the full range of Hoyningen-Huenes talent. They have been chosen by William A. Ewing Director of the Musee de lElysee in Lausanne who also provides an account of the photographers career drawing extensively on his unpublished memoirs. He shows how Hoyningen-Huenes style and techniques were shaped by his aristocratic upbringing by his collaboration with Man Ray by his intimate contacts with the artistic milieu of 1920s Paris and by the influence of the photographers Edward Steichen and Baron de Meyer. Little-known aspects of his life such as his work in Hollywood as color coordinator for George Cukor are discussed. The text concludes with a survey of his importance for photographers as diverse and distinguished as Avedon Penn and Horst.