The Photographic Art of Hoyningen-Huene

George Hoyningen-Huene was born into the privileged world of the Russian aristocracy at the turn of the century. In Paris, as a refugee from the Revolution, he worked for Vogue, first as an illustrator and then as a supremely successful fashion photographer. Confidently, even imperiously, he created unprecedented images of perfect elegance by means of models, clothes, and, above all, the manipulation of light. Moving in the 1930s to Harper's Bazaar, he extended his range to portraiture and travel, capturing artists, composers, Hollywood stars, and the landscapes of Africa, Greece, Egypt, and Mexico in timeless visions of classical harmony. Two hundred and twenty-five superbly reproduced color and duotone illustrations display the full range of Hoyningen-Huene's talent. They have been chosen by William A. Ewing, Director of the Musee de l'Elysee in Lausanne, who also provides an account of the photographer's career, drawing extensively on his unpublished memoirs. He shows how Hoyningen-Huene's style and techniques were shaped by his aristocratic upbringing, by his collaboration with Man Ray, by his intimate contacts with the artistic milieu of 1920s Paris, and by the influence of the photographers Edward Steichen and Baron de Meyer. Little-known aspects of his life, such as his work in Hollywood as color coordinator for George Cukor, are discussed. The text concludes with a survey of his importance for photographers as diverse and distinguished as Avedon, Penn, and Horst.