William Klein

American-born French photographer and filmmaker.

Studied under Fernand Leger and found early success with exhibitions of his work.

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.

Klein’s work was considered revolutionary for its “ambivalent and ironic approach to the world of fashion”.

The world of fashion would become the subject for Klein’s first feature film, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?.

Candy Store, New York, 1955

Vogue Veruschka, July 1967