William Klein

William Klein April 19 1926 September 10 2022 was 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 Trained as a painter Klein studied under Fernand LΓ©ger 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 essays 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 Kleins 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 wideangle 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 Kleins first feature film Who Are You Polly Maggoo which like his other two fiction features Mr Freedom and Le Couple TΓ©moin is a satire Klein directed numerous short and featurelength documentaries and produced over 250 television commercials Though American by birth Klein 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 Kleins 1968 satire Mr Freedom was conceivably the most antiAmerican movie ever made Description above from the Wikipedia article William Klein licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia

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D.O.B: 1926-04-19
D.O.D: 2022-09-10
Place of Birth: New York City, USA
Profession: director

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