Ellen von Unwerth is a director and photographer whose bold and erotic images of women have left an indelible mark on the visual landscape of the fashion world.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, von Unwerth was a model in Paris for nearly a decade before turning to photography. Her 1989 images of Claudia Schiffer for a Guess jeans campaign, echoing the playfully feminine style of 1950s pinups, earned both Schiffer and von Unwerth wide attention. Over the years, her work has been featured regularly in magazines like Interview, Vanity Fair, Vogue, I-D and The Face, appearing on covers and in both editorial and commercial contexts. In 1991, she won first prize at the International Festival of Fashion Photography.
Von Unwerth’s 1995 photoshoot of Drew Barrymore for Playboy magazine is among her most popular work and, coupled with an array of album covers for such artists as Janet Jackson and Britney Spears, gave her standing as a celebrity photographer beyond the borders of the fashion world. Von Unwerth’s pictures have a distinctive look and feel, with saturated colors and dense compositions, while also, in certain cases, paying homage to great photographers of the 20th century.
The 2015 Tree of Love, Bavaria, in which a nude model reclines inside the heart-shaped hollow of an enormous decaying trunk, recalls Edward Weston’s sensuous use of the body’s geometry in his compositions. And the dramatically lit Tic Tac Toe from 2010, showing a scantily clad woman posing on a city street at night, evokes Helmut Newton’s atmospheric photograph of a model wearing Yves St. Laurent’s Le Smoking jacket, shot for French Vogue in 1975.
Von Unwerth has published several books of her photographs, including Revenge, in 2003, and Fräulein, in 2009. Those volumes have been joined by one showcasing the photos of her series “Heimat,” in which she playfully combines visual tropes of traditional Bavarian life with her signature eroticism and wit. She is represented by several dealers, including the Staley-Wise Gallery, in New York, and Galerie Trabant, in Kitzbühel, Austria.
Find original Ellen von Unwerth photography on 1stDibs.
| Average Sold Price |
| $1,000 |
| Styles |
| Materials |
| Related Artists |
$2,000
H 17.33 in W 13 in
Ellen von Unwerth, Heimat Book & Art Edition Print ‘Spy Device’
By Ellen von Unwerth
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Welcome to Heimat An enchanted trip through Bavaria with Ellen von Unwerth Ellen von Unwerth’s puckish humor pervades the pages of Heimat, an enchanted tour around Bavaria. The reno...
Paper, C Print, Book
$9,500
H 27.75 in W 21.25 in D 2 in
Haute Couture, Paris, 1991, Ellen Von Unwerth
By Ellen von Unwerth
Located in Palm Desert, CA
This fabulous photogragh was taken by Ellen von Unwerth, notable German photographer. It was shot on a movie set in 1991. The photo portrays 2 women, on the set of a movie, in Folli...
Glass, Paper
Price Upon Request
H 24 in W 20 in
Crash, Elle Macpherson - nude model with newspaper, fine art photography, 2004
By Ellen von Unwerth
Located in Vienna, AT
Ellen von Unwerth’s Crash, Elle Macpherson (2004) brings together fashion photography, humor, and pointed social commentary in one of the photographer’s most memorable black-and-whit...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
H 40 in W 30 in
Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz II, Vogue Italia - FIne Art Photography, 1990
By Ellen von Unwerth
Located in Vienna, AT
Ellen von Unwerth’s Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz for Vogue Italia (1991) captures two defining figures of the supermodel era at the beginning of a decade that would transform fa...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
H 39.38 in W 27.56 in
Bullit, Christy Turlingon and Linda Evangelista for Vogue Italia
By Ellen von Unwerth
Located in Vienna, AT
In 1990, photographer Ellen von Unwerth captured an iconic series of images featuring supermodels Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista in Cannes, France. Published in the July 19...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
H 39.38 in W 27.56 in
Adriana Lima Wicked V - Nude Portrait with a Witch Hat, Fine Art Photography
By Ellen von Unwerth
Located in Vienna, AT
Before Adriana Lima became one of the iconic Victoria's Secret Angels, she was discovered by Ellen von Unwerth. Von Unwerth organized an impromptu photoshoot with the young model, pu...
Archival Pigment
Mannequin, Paris, 1998
By Ellen von Unwerth
Located in New York, NY
Signed bv the photographer
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
H 27.56 in W 39.38 in
The Big Catch - Heimat Series - Limited Edition Fine Art Photography
By Ellen von Unwerth
Located in Vienna, AT
Multiple sizes available. Ellen von Unwerth’s "The Big Catch" is a joyful and cinematic image from the artist’s acclaimed Heimat series, a body of work in which von Unwerth returns ...
Archival Pigment
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| $1,000 |
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months |
| $1,000-$1,000 |
| Sold price range of items in the past 12 months |