German-born photographer Ellen von Unwerth doesn’t just set up a shoot
- she writes a script for it. One of a rare group of photographers
who – for more than two decades – has been given unlimited access
to Hollywood starlets looking to explore a more erotic edge;
whether it’s Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé or Rihanna, Von Unwerth gives her subjects
freedom to explore a character. The result is uniquely hers.
“Suddenly it’s not just a pretty picture with a stunning dress
and a beautiful girl,” Von Unwerth tells GQ. “You stare at
the picture, you are intrigued and therefore engaged.”
Born in 1954, Von Unwerth received worldwide recognition when
she won first prize at the International Festival of Fashion
Photography in 1991. This led to era-defining work shooting
supermodels for Vogue, Vanity Fair, i-D,
the Face, L’Uomo Vogue and, of course,
GQ.
She began her career in front of the camera, but after a decade
modelling she was unsatisfied, and began taking reportage shots on
her camera, travelling to Kenya and indulging her interest in
street photography.
“I just shot what I saw. Then a French magazine called
Jill published my first pictures and I was hooked. So in a
way it was really an accident.”
Her roots in reportage photography are apparent in her
high-fashion work. This is especially true of her latest book,
The Story Of Olga, an erotic photographic journey in which
model-turned-actress Olga Rodionova (wife of Russian billionaire
Sergey Rodionov) plays a young widow who, after the death of her
wealthy, elderly husband, is overtaken by an insatiable lust. Which
is, of course, sated by a cast of characters over 350 pages of
highly elaborate and sexually charged situations.
“She’s amazing to shoot,” Von Unwerth says of Rodionova. “She’s
very Âpowerful but she is also a real woman with an abrasive
sexuality. To shoot her and – as with all my subjects – make her
look beautiful and sexy, is what I live for.”
The Story Of Olga by Ellen von Unwerth (Taschen, £450 for
hardcover with a clamshell box) is out now. taschen.com
Originally published in the August 2013 edition of
British GQ.
Article source: http://petapixel.com/2011/09/21/the-big-hands-now-hold-giant-nikon-mirrorless-cameras/
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