Horst P. Horst

Horst P. Horst, born Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann, (August 14, 1906 - November 18, 1999) was a photographer best known for his photographs of women and fashion taken while working for Vogue.

Biography

Horst was born in Weissenfels-an-der-Saale, Germany, to Max and Klara Bohrmann. His father was a successful merchant. In his teens, he met dancer Eva Weidemann at the home of his aunt's, and this aroused his interest in avant-garde art. In the late 1920s, Horst studied at Hamburg Kunstgewerbeschule, leaving there to go to Paris to study under the architect Le Corbusier. In Paris, he befriended many people in the art community and attended many galleries. In 1930 he met Vogue photographer Baron George Hoyningen-Huene, and traveled to England with him that winter. While there, they visited photographer Cecil Beaton, who was working for the British edition of Vogue. In 1931, Horst began his association with Vogue, publishing his first photograph in the French edition of Vogue in November of that year. In 1932, his first exhibition was hung in La Plume d'Or in Paris. It was reviewed by Janet Flanner in The New Yorker, and this review, which appeared after his exhibit was over, made Horst instantly famous. Horst made a portrait of Bette Davis the same year, the first in a series of famous personages he would photograph during his life. Within two years, he had photographed Noel Coward, Yvonne Printemps, Lisa Fonssagrives, Natasha Paley, Cole Porter, Esla Schiapparelli, and others. In 1937, Horst rented an apartment in New York, and while residing there met Coco Chanel. He would photograph her fashions for three decades. In 1940, Horst applied for United States citizenship. In 1942 he passed an Army physical, and joined the Army on July 2, 1943. On October 21 he received his United States citizenship as Horst P. Horst. He became an Army photographer, with much of his work printed in the forces' magazine Belvoir Castle. In 1945 he photographed United States President Harry S. Truman, with whom he became friends, and he photographed every First Lady in the post-war period at the invitation of the White House. In 1947, Horst moved into his house in Oyster Bay, New York. In the 1960s, encouraged by Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, Horst began a series of photos illustrating the lifestyle of international high society. From this point until nearly the time of his death, Horst spent most of his time traveling and photographing. In the mid 1970s, he began working for House and Garden magazine as well as for Vogue.

Work

Horst is best known for his photographs of women and fashion, but is also recognized for his photographs of interior architecture, still lifes, especially ones including plants, and environmental portraits. His work frequently reflects his interest in Surrealism and his regard of the ancient Greek ideal of physical beauty. His method of work typically entailed careful preparation for the shoot, with the lighting and studio props (of which he used many) arranged in advance. His instructions to models are remembered as being brief and to the point. His published work uses lighting to pick out the subject; he frequently used four spotlights, often one of them pointing down from the ceiling. Only rarely do his photos include shadows falling on the background of the set. Horst rarely, if ever, used filters. While most of his work is in black & white, much of his color photography includes largely monochromatic settings to set off a colorful fashion. After making the photograph, Horst generally left it up to others to develop, print, crop, and edit his work. One of his most famous portraits is of Marlene Dietrich, taken in 1942. She protested the lighting that he had selected and arranged, but he used it anyway. Dietrich liked the results and subsequently used a photo from the session in her own publicity.

Publications

Books featuring Horst's photography:
  • 1944 Photographs of a Decade
  • 1946 Patterns from Nature - a collection of plant still lifes
  • 1984 Horst, His Work and His World
  • 1971 Salute to the Thirties (A Studio Book)
  • 1991 Horst - Sixty Years of Photography - this book contains a selection of his work, including his most famous photographs.
  • Horst Portraits : 60 Years of Style
  • 1993 Horst : Interiors
  • 1997 Horst P Horst: Magician of Lights
  • Spezial Fotografie: Portfolio No. 24

External Links

Horst, Horst P. Horst, Horst P. Horst, Horst P.

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
night parrot
men and women
ncw
kikai caldera
times life
orange bellied parrot
juan martn de pueyrredn y o'dogan
bkv
adam parore
chatham albatross
vademecum
marlow bridge
java heterogeneous distributed computing
eddie burrup
stephen saunders
pelaaja
garrat elections
los angeles city council
ken's labyrinth
stepping razor
jan jelinek
solomon kane
nunavut general election, 1999
tilt lehti
william travers
paul hardcastle
bankcard
shinken
list of northwest territories general elections
list of saskatchewan general elections
r. l. mgroz
gilbert ryle
vasily tatishchev
atsuta, hokkaido
hung vuong
atsutagun, atsuta, hokkaido
emancipation of labour
changeroom
rugby league championship
capstone software
migrant helpline
rumoi, hokkaido
paul s. trible
intracorp