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.
Ellen Von Unwerth Photograph of Naomi Campbell 1992
By Ellen von Unwerth
Located in CA, CA
A very rare proof image of Naomi Campell by Ellen Von Unswerth for issue No. 34 of Arena Magazine 1992. Ellen von Unwerth is known for her fashion, editorial, and advertising work, ...
Paper
Ellen von Unwerth, Heimat, Limited Edition Signed Book
By Ellen von Unwerth, TASCHEN
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 ren...
Paper
$4,620Sale Price|50% Off
H 39.57 in W 30.32 in D 1.97 in
Signed Naomi Campbell for Vivienne Westwood Large Format Polaroid Photo, 2008
By Vivienne Westwood
Located in London, GB
An original one-off large format Polaroid photograph of Naomi Campbell for the Vivienne Westwood Active Resistance limited edition book produced by Opus. Signed by Naomi Campbell and photographer Zenon Texeira in marker pen. Large-format polaroids are extremely rare and unique and as the name suggests, they are of a large scale, the visible image dimensions being 52 cm x 67 cm. It is an autographed and one-off, unreproducible photograph, as there is no negative. Large Format Polaroids: The Polaroid 20×24 camera is a very large instant camera made by Polaroid, with film plates that measure a nominal 20 by 24 inches. Throughout its history, it has been used by many famous photographers, including Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol. Ansel Adams also used the camera, notably to make the first official photographic Presidential portrait, of President Jimmy Carter in 1979. To celebrate Lady Gaga's new role as Creative Director of Polaroid, a portrait of her was shot with the 20×24 camera on June 30, 2010, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This is the actual one-off Large Format Polaroid Photo taken on one of three of these cameras in existence which are soon to be obsolete because no more of the photographic paper can be made. The rare Polaroid 20 x 24 camera was brought from Prague to Paris and London for three separate photo shoots for The Official Vivienne Westwood Opus. Featuring Vivienne Westwood’s family and friends wearing clothes from her stunning collections, 97 selected Polaroids, shot by Zenon Texeira in black-and-white, colour and sepia, are displayed in the Opus. The photos were shown in various venues including the Serpentine Gallery in London on a worldwide tour to promote the book. Participants included: Vivienne Westwood, Pier Vittorio Aureli, Hilary Koob-Sassen, Ingo Niermann & Zak Kyes, Rasheed Araeen, Peter Cook, Richard Wentworth, Gilbert & George, Ben Vautier, Jonas Mekas, Jean-Jacques Lebel, Tom Mccarthy, Mark Wallinger, Yoko Ono, Barbara Steveni, Ekaterina Degot, Raqs media collective, Nathaniel Mellors, Lee Scrivner, Andrea Branzi, Henry Flynt, Marina Abramovic, Agnès Varda, Susan Hefuna, Stephen Willats, Falke Pisano, Adam Pendleton, Jimmie Durham...
Paper
$450Sale Price|21% Off
H 11 in W 14 in D 2 in
Limited Edition Disney "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" Book with Serigraphs
By Walt Disney Productions
Located in San Diego, CA
Hard to find limited edition Disney "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" book with four serigraphs, circa 1978. This book is #2230 of #9500 distributed worldwide and is lavishly illustr...
Paper, Leather
$175 / item
H 16.5 in W 12.63 in D 2 in
Rihanna Book: Limited Edition 'Fenty x Phaidon' Featuring a Designer Stand
Located in New York, NY
Clear the coffee table! Rihanna invites you into her world with this stunning visual autobiography that comes with a limited edition stand created in collaboration with the artists T...
Paper
Contemporary Photograph of a Sliced Apple
Located in Sheffield, MA
Caroline Kaars Sypesteyn of Berkshire Artisanal is the artist who has created this black-and-white photographic print on linen of a sliced apple. Titled "Apple Portfolio Print." The ...
Linen, Wood
$3,400
H 4 in W 11.4 in D 13 in
Nobuyoshi Araki "Bondage" Limited Edition Signed Collector Book by TASCHEN
By Nobuyoshi Araki
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This book is a sealed copy of a SOLD OUT Collector’s Edition. Each book is numbered and signed by Nobuyoshi Araki. This particular edition is number 312 out of 845 copies, It consi...
Bamboo, Paper
Venini Book, Limited Edition, 1978
By Luigi Massoni
Located in Sacile, PN
Venini book, 500 limited edition copies ed. 1978- Black aluminium cover 135 fine color illustrations.
Aluminum
Contemporary Photograph of a Sliced Artichoke
By Caroline Kaars Sypesteyn
Located in Sheffield, MA
Caroline Kaars Sypesteyn of Berkshire Artisanal is the artist who has created this black-and-white photographic print on linen of a sliced artichoke. Titled "Artichoke." The photogra...
Linen, Wood
Asprey and Company Limited (Book)
Located in North Yorkshire, GB
This is the luxury edition of Asprey and Company Limited Mail Order Catalogue from around 1930, with an imitation crocodile skin cover and velum spi...
Paper
$240Sale Price|20% Off
H 7.5 in W 9.5 in D 0.5 in
"November 26, 1963" JFK Limited Edition Book Signed by Ben Shahn & W. Berry
By Ben Shahn
Located in San Diego, CA
"November Twenty Six Nineteen Hundred Sixty Three / November 26, 1963" John F. Kennedy book with sleeve signed by artist, Ben Shahn and poet, Wendell Berry, circa 1964. This limited ...
Paper
$1,950Sale Price|22% Off
H 20 in W 16 in D 0.1 in
Julius Schulman Signed Black & White Photograph, Von Sternberg House
By Julius Shulman
Located in San Diego, CA
Julius Shulman signed black and white gelatin photo of the Von Sternberg house in Northridge, CA, circa 1947. #1675 The overall piece measures 16" x 20" and the actual image is 12...
Paper
Contemporary Photograph of Red Beets
By Caroline Kaars Sypesteyn
Located in Sheffield, MA
Caroline Kaars Sypesteyn of Berkshire Artisanal is the artist who has created this black-and-white photographic print on linen of a pair of red beets. Titled "Red Beets #4." The phot...
Linen, Wood
Contemporary Photograph of Onion Heads
By Caroline Kaars Sypesteyn
Located in Sheffield, MA
Caroline Kaars Sypesteyn of Berkshire Artisanal is the artist who has created this black-and-white photographic print on linen of onion heads. Titled "Onion Heads #5." The photograph...
Linen, Wood
Ellen von Unwerth - Revenge, signed
By Ellen von Unwerth
Located in CA, CA
First edition, in slipcase, 130/200, published by Twin Palms Publishers, 2003 An amusing erotic photo book by model-turned professional photographer, Ellen von Unwerth. Known for ...