here's
one thing that always binds together Ellen von Unwerth's inimitable photographs: a distinct sense of playfulness. Although she's best known for provocative, sexy images that fully capture the beauty of her famous subjects -- Madonna, Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell, Beyoncé among others -- she also worked as model.
"I was a model for 10 years and I was so frustrated, I was lively and always had fun ideas but the photographers were always like, just stand there, look to the left, look to the right, don't smile," she said in a phone interview.
"So when I started to shoot my model girlfriends I did the opposite. I wanted to catch something, a slice of life I always called it. I actually try to make it look like a stolen moment."
She describes this genre of photography of her own creation as "reportage edge," due to its spontaneous rather than staged nature, and she doesn't think that her shots are over-sexualized. "There is always a little bit of humor in my pictures and maybe a little bit of a parody of femininity. Girls love to look beautiful and be sexy in front of the camera, especially when it's with another woman," she explained.
Born in Frankfurt in 1954, von Unwerth started her photography career in 1991, first working for British designer Katharine Hamnett, and in the same year photographing a 17-year-old named Claudia Schiffer for the first time.
"I remember it so well, just like it was yesterday. Once I developed the pictures I was like, 'Oh my god, she looks like Brigitte Bardot!' Everybody really responded to those pictures which kicked off her career and my career."