William Klein
Encyclopedia
William Klein is a photographer and filmmaker noted to for his ironic approach to both media and his extensive use of unusual photographic techniques in the context of photojournalism
and fashion photography
. He was ranked 25th on Professional Photographer's Top 100 Most influencial photographers.
Trained as a painter, Klein studied under Fernand Léger
and found early success with exhibitions of his work. However, he soon moved on to photography and achieved widespread fame as a fashion photographer
for Vogue
and for his photo essay
s on various cities. Despite having no training as a photographer, Klein won the Prix Nadar
in 1957 for New York, a book of photographs taken during a brief return to his hometown
in 1954. Klein's work was considered revolutionary for its "ambivalent and ironic approach to the world of fashion", its "uncompromising rejection of the then prevailing rules of photography" and for his extensive use of wide-angle
and telephoto lenses, natural lighting and motion blur
. Klein tends to be cited in photography books along with Robert Frank
as among the fathers of street photography, one of those mixed compliments that classifies a man who is hard to classify. The world of fashion would become the subject for Klein's first feature film, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?, which, like his other two fiction features, Mr. Freedom
and Le Couple Témoin, is a satire
.
Klein has directed numerous short and feature-length documentaries and has produced over 250 television commercials.
Though American
by birth, Klein has lived and worked in France
since his late teens. His work has sometimes been openly critical of American society and foreign policy; the film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
once wrote that Klein's 1968 satire Mr. Freedom
was "conceivably the most anti-American movie ever made."
, on April 19, 1928, into a poor Jewish family. Klein graduated from high school
early and enrolled at the City College of New York
at the age of 14 to study sociology
. Klein joined the US Army and was stationed in Germany
and later France
, where he would permanently settle after being discharged. In 1948, Klein enrolled at the Sorbonne
, and later studied with Fernand Léger
. At the time, Klein was interested in abstract
painting and sculpture. In 1952, Klein had two successful solo exhibitions in Milan
and began a collaboration with the architect Angelo Mangiarotti
. Klein also experimented with kinetic art
, and it was at an exhibition of his kinetic sculptures that he met Alexander Liberman
, the art director for Vogue
.
In 1966, Klein directed his first feature film, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? He has since directed many others, including the cinéma vérité
documentary
Grands soirs et petits matins, the 1969 documentary Muhammad Ali: The Greatest, and the satires Mr. Freedom
and Le Couple Témoin. A long time tennis fan, in 1982 he directed The French, a documentary on the French Open tennis championship at Roland-Garros.
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...
and fashion photography
Fashion photography
Fashion photography is a genre of photography devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items. Fashion photography is most often conducted for advertisements or fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, or Elle...
. He was ranked 25th on Professional Photographer's Top 100 Most influencial photographers.
Trained as a painter, Klein studied under Fernand Léger
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
and found early success with exhibitions of his work. However, he soon moved on to photography and achieved widespread fame as a fashion photographer
Fashion photography
Fashion photography is a genre of photography devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items. Fashion photography is most often conducted for advertisements or fashion magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, or Elle...
for Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
and for his photo essay
Photo essay
A photo-essay is a set or series of photographs that are intended to tell a story or evoke a series of emotions in the viewer. A photo essay will often show pictures in deep emotional stages. Photo essays range from purely photographic works to photographs with captions or small notes to full text...
s on various cities. Despite having no training as a photographer, Klein won the Prix Nadar
Prix Nadar
The Prix Nadar is an annual prize awarded for a photography book edited in France. The prize was created in 1955 and is awarded by a jury of photojournalists and publishing experts....
in 1957 for New York, a book of photographs taken during a brief return to his hometown
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1954. Klein's work was considered revolutionary for its "ambivalent and ironic approach to the world of fashion", its "uncompromising rejection of the then prevailing rules of photography" and for his extensive use of wide-angle
Wide-angle lens
From a design perspective, a wide angle lens is one that projects a substantially larger image circle than would be typical for a standard design lens of the same focal length; this enables either large tilt & shift movements with a view camera, or lenses with wide fields of view.More informally,...
and telephoto lenses, natural lighting and motion blur
Motion blur
Motion blur is the apparent streaking of rapidly moving objects in a still image or a sequence of images such as a movie or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single frame, either due to rapid movement or long exposure.- Photography :When a camera...
. Klein tends to be cited in photography books along with Robert Frank
Robert Frank
Robert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American...
as among the fathers of street photography, one of those mixed compliments that classifies a man who is hard to classify. The world of fashion would become the subject for Klein's first feature film, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?, which, like his other two fiction features, Mr. Freedom
Mr. Freedom
Mr. Freedom is a 1969 film by American expatriate photographer and filmmaker William Klein. In addition to starring popular French actor Delphine Seyrig, this anti-imperialist satirical farce features cameos by well-known actors Donald Pleasence and Philippe Noiret, as well as musician Serge...
and Le Couple Témoin, is a satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
.
Klein has directed numerous short and feature-length documentaries and has produced over 250 television commercials.
Though American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by birth, Klein has lived and worked in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
since his late teens. His work has sometimes been openly critical of American society and foreign policy; the film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
once wrote that Klein's 1968 satire Mr. Freedom
Mr. Freedom
Mr. Freedom is a 1969 film by American expatriate photographer and filmmaker William Klein. In addition to starring popular French actor Delphine Seyrig, this anti-imperialist satirical farce features cameos by well-known actors Donald Pleasence and Philippe Noiret, as well as musician Serge...
was "conceivably the most anti-American movie ever made."
Biography
Klein was born in New York, New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, on April 19, 1928, into a poor Jewish family. Klein graduated from high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
early and enrolled at the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
at the age of 14 to study sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
. Klein joined the US Army and was stationed in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and later France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where he would permanently settle after being discharged. In 1948, Klein enrolled at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
, and later studied with Fernand Léger
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
. At the time, Klein was interested in abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
painting and sculpture. In 1952, Klein had two successful solo exhibitions in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and began a collaboration with the architect Angelo Mangiarotti
Angelo Mangiarotti
Angelo Mangiarotti is an Italian architect and industrial designer.The main concept in his architecture, design and sculpture works is the rise of form through the correct use of matter and technique....
. Klein also experimented with kinetic art
Kinetic art
Kinetic art is art that contains moving parts or depends on motion for its effect. The moving parts are generally powered by wind, a motor or the observer. Kinetic art encompasses a wide variety of overlapping techniques and styles.-Kinetic sculpture:...
, and it was at an exhibition of his kinetic sculptures that he met Alexander Liberman
Alexander Liberman
Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman was a Russian-American magazine editor, publisher, painter, photographer, and sculptor. He held senior artistic positions during his 32 years at Condé Nast Publications.-Biography:When his father took a post advising the Soviet government, the family moved to Moscow...
, the art director for Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
.
In 1966, Klein directed his first feature film, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? He has since directed many others, including the cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Grands soirs et petits matins, the 1969 documentary Muhammad Ali: The Greatest, and the satires Mr. Freedom
Mr. Freedom
Mr. Freedom is a 1969 film by American expatriate photographer and filmmaker William Klein. In addition to starring popular French actor Delphine Seyrig, this anti-imperialist satirical farce features cameos by well-known actors Donald Pleasence and Philippe Noiret, as well as musician Serge...
and Le Couple Témoin. A long time tennis fan, in 1982 he directed The French, a documentary on the French Open tennis championship at Roland-Garros.