Louise Brooks by Eugene Robert Richee (1920s)

Eugene Robert Richee (b. 1896) began his career in the silent movie era. He got his job at Paramount in the late teens through his friend Clarence Sinclair Bull.

He started shooting stars while Donald Biddle Keyes was taking portraits in the gallery.  When Keyes left Paramount, Richee took over, and for two decades he photographed the studio’s stars including Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, Claudette Colbert, Fredrick March, the Marx Brothers and Carole Lombard.  Lombard so admired his work with Dietrich that she started posing in some of the same ways to get that ‘glamour mysterious’ look.

From 1925 to 1935 Richee took many photographs of Louise Brooks.  Perhaps Richee’s most famous work is a 1928 portrait of Louise Brooks wearing a long string of pearls. Few photos capture better the zeitgeist of the Roaring ’20s. Simplicity is the hallmark of this photograph, along with masterful composition. Brooks stands, face in profile and wearing a long-sleeved black dress, against a black background, her face hands and pearls along illuminated. Her bob, with its razor-sharp line across the white skin of her jaw, was widely copied and became one of the last century’s most potent fashion statements.

Brook’s career had intermittent highs and lows, but she was one of Hollywood’s great portrait subjects and was never better served than by Richee (source).

Louise Brooks by Eugene Robert Richee, 1928 via

Louise Brooks by Eugene Robert Richee, 1928 via

Louise Brooks portrait by Eugene Robert Richee via

Portrait of Louise Brooks by Eugene Robert Richee, 1920s via

Portrait of Louise Brooks for The Canary Murder Case directed by Malcolm St. Clair and Frank Tuttle. Photo by Eugene Robert Richee, 1929 via

Portrait of Louise Brooks for The Canary Murder Case directed by Malcolm St. Clair and Frank Tuttle. Photo by Eugene Robert Richee, 1929 via

Amazing Vintage Portraits by Madame d’Ora (1910s-1920s)

Dora Philippine Kallmus (1881 – October 28, 1963) was an Austrian-Jewish fashion and portrait photographer who went by the name Madame D’ora. Dora, born in Vienna in 1881, came from a respected family of Jewish lawyers. In 1905 she was the first woman to be admitted to theory courses at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt. That same year she became a member of the Vienna Photographic Society. She trained at Nicola Perscheid’s studio in Berlin, where she became friends with his assistant Arthur Benda. In 1907 she opened a photography studio with Benda in Vienna called the Benda-D’Ora Studio. What followed was  a distinguished career as a salon photographer. In 1925, she moved her atelier to Paris, and during the 30s and 40s rose to international prominence through society and high fashion photography. Both her er studios in Vienna and Paris became fashionable meeting places for the cultural and intellectual elite. In Vienna she had  become extremely popular among the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy.

Her subjects included intellectuals, dancers, actors, painters, and writers, fx.  Josephine Baker, Tamara de Lempicka, Maurice Chevalier, Colette, Niddy Impekoven. These vibrant portraits of twentieth-century artists and intellectuals remain important testaments to European cultural life at the turn of the century and beyond.

According to Jewish Women Encyclopedia D’Ora was one of the first photographers to focus on the emerging areas of modern, expressive dance and fashion, particularly after 1920, when fashion photographs started to replace drawings in magazines. While her photographic technique was not radical, her avant-garde subject matter was a risky choice. D’Ora’s photographs captured her clients’ individuality with new, natural positions in contrast to stiff, old-fashioned poses. D’Ora’s achievements also paved the way for other European women’s careers in photography, an area in which many Jewish women in particular found success.

When the Germans invaded France, Madame D’ora fled to a convent in the country side.  Dora returned to France in 1946 and re-opened the studio.

In 1959 she was involved in a serious traffic accident that left her an invalid. She died in Frohnleiten, Steiermark, Austria, in 1963.

Marie Conte by Madame d’Ora

Fashion study by Madame d’Ora & Arthur Benda. Vienna, ca 1920

Fashion Photography by Irving Penn

 American Erving Penn (1917 – 2009) was the 20th century’s most influential photographer whose remarkable style set completely new standards to the fashion photography in the 1940s. Penn was among the first photographers to pose subjects against a simple grey or white backdrop and used this simplicity more effectively than other photographers. Expanding his austere studio surroundings, Penn constructed a set of upright angled backdrops, to form a stark, acute corner.

Penn’s career included work at Vogue magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Issey Miyake, and Clinique. His work has been exhibited internationally, and continues to inform the art of photography even after his death

By Irving Penn

By Irving Penn

By Irving Penn

A Collection of Vintage Portraits by Karen Radkai

Information about Karen Radkai is very sparse. She was a staff photographer for Vogue magazine during the 50s and 60s and was married to a fellow photographer Poul Radkai.

Portrait of Monica Vitti by Karen Radkai, 1968 via

Karen Radkai, Portrait of Antonella Agnelli, Vogue, June 1966 via

Allegra Caracciolo di Castagneto Photographed by Karen Radkai, Vogue, September 1, 1963 via

Model wearing a hat by Gailtzine, 1963. Photo by Karen Radkai via

Karen Radkai, Françoise Dorléac, Paris 1964 via

Photo by Karen Radkai, 1975 via

April 15, 1962 by Karen Radkai via

Annemarie Heinrich – German/Argentine photographer

Annemarie Heinrich (1912 – 2005) was a German-born, naturalized Argentine photographer. Heinrich is considered one of Argentina’s most important photographers. She specialized in portraits and nudity.

Heinrich was born in Darmstadt and moved to Larroque, Entre Ríos with her family in 1926, fleeing from the First World War. In 1930 she opened her first studio in Buenos Aires.

Two years later she moved to a larger studio, and began photographing actors from the Teatro Colón. Her photos were also the cover of magazines such as El Hogar, Sintonía, Alta Sociedad, Radiolandia and Antena for forty years. She is known for having photographed various celebrities of Argentine cinema, such as Tita Merello, Carmen Miranda, Zully Moreno and Mirtha Legrand; as well as other cultural personalities like Jorge Luis Borges, Pablo Neruda and Eva Perón.

By Annemarie Heinrich

By Annemarie Heinrich

By Annemarie Heinrich

By Annemarie Heinrich

By Annemarie Heinrich

By Annemarie Heinrich

By Annemarie Heinrich

By Annemarie Heinrich

A Collection of Vintage Photos By One of Swedens Greatest Photographers Georg Oddner

Georg Mirskij Oddner (1923 – 2007) was one of Swedens greatest photographers from the 20th century.

Oddner was a jazz musician and studying advertising in the 1940s when he first came into contact with photography through John Melin, art director at Svenska Telegrambyrån in Malmö, the largest advertising agency in Scandinavia. From there, Oddner began working a variety of advertising jobs, including industry, architecture, and clothing, as well as for SAS.

In the mid-1950s Oddner traveled to California, South America, the Soviet Union, and the far east. During these travels he was able to pursue photography for his own purposes. He predominantly used Hasselblad and Leica equipment.

His favorite photographers included Henri Cartier-Bresson and Richard Avedon.

Anita Ekberg by Georg Oddner, 1951 via

Georg Oddner Paris, 1952 via

Georg Oddner via

Georg Oddner via

Georg Oddner via

Fashion Photography by Norman Parkinson (1950s)

From his early days as a photographer up to his death Norman Parkinson remained one of the foremost British portrait and fashion photographers. His work, following the lead of Martin Munkacsi at Harper’s Bazaar, revolutionised the world of British fashion photography in the 1940s by bringing his models from the rigid studio environment into a far more dynamic outdoor setting. Humour played a central role in many of his photographs which often included himself.

From 1935 to 1940 he worked for Harper’s Bazaar and Bystander magazines. During the Second World War he served as a reconnaissance photographer over France for the Royal Air Force. In 1947 he married the actress and model Wenda Rogerson. From 1945 to 1960 he was employed as a portrait and fashion photographer for Vogue.  

Norman Parkinson via

Norman Parkinson Zulu War Dance, British Vogue, 1951 via

 Ms Wenda Rogerson shot for Vogue, South Africa, 1951 © Norman Parkinson. Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive, normanparkinson.com via

Anne Gunning in dress by Susan Small, photo by Norman Parkinson (India feature) for Vogue UK, Dec 1956 via

Barbara Mullen. Delhi, India, November 1956 via

Carmen dell Orefice, Vogue, July, 1959 via

Marilyn Monroe by Cecil Beaton (1956)

British photographer Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) became famous for his beautiful portraits of Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo and Elizabeth Taylor ect.

Although associated with Vogue though most of his career, Beaton’s Monroe portfolio appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, for whom he worked in the mid 1950s. It was whilst in New York for the rehearsals and premiere of My Fair Lady that Beaton photographed Monroe. With a possibility that he would be the designer of Monroe’s dresses for The Prince and The Showgirl, Beaton arranged a photography sitting in his suite in the Ambassador Hotel on 22 February 1956. Pfizenmaier, Beaton’s assistant, noted that Monroe did her own make-up and ‘came just by herself, with these two little dresses… it was as simple as that.’ Beaton recalled ‘She romps, she squeals with delight, she leaps on the sofa. She puts a flower stem in her mouth… It is an artless, impromptu, high-spirited, infectiously gay performance. It will probably end in tears.’ The session produced one of Monroe’s favourite portraits which hung in her New York apartment that she shared with her third husband Arthur Miller (source).

Marilyn Monroe by Cecil Beaton via

Marilyn Monroe by Cecil Beaton via

Marilyn Monroe by Cecil Beaton via

Marilyn Monroe by Cecil Beaton via

Marilyn Monroe by Cecil Beaton via

Marilyn Monroe by Cecil Beaton via

Marilyn Monroe by Cecil Beaton via

Marilyn Monroe by Philippe Halsman

From the 1940s through the 1970s, Philippe Halsman’s sparkling portraits of celebrities, intellectuals, and politicians appeared on covers and pages of big picture magazines. A 1958 poll conducted by Popular Photography named Halsman one of the “World’s Ten Greatest Photographers” . In 1951, he was commissioned by NBC to photograph various popular comedians of the time. While photographing them doing their acts, he captured many in mid air, which went on to inspire many later jump pictures of celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, who Halsman had several photo sessions with – including her first cover of Life Magazine.

Marilyn Monroe photographed by Philippe Halsman, 1959 via

Marilyn Monroe photographed by Philippe Halsman, 1959 via

Vintage Photos Featuring Arletty by Madame d’Ora

Arletty (1898 – 1992) was a French actress, singer, and fashion model. Born to a working-class family, she left home and pursued a modeling career, after her father’s death. She took the stage name “Arlette” based on the heroine of a story by Maupassant.

Her early career was dominated by the music hall, and she later appeared in plays and cabaret. Arletty was a stage performer for ten years before her film debut in 1930. Her career took off around 1936, when she appeared as the leading lady in the stage plays Les Joies du Capitole and Fric-Frac, in which she starred opposite Michel Simon. She later starred as Blanche in the French version of A Streetcar Named Desire.

She was imprisoned in 1945 for her wartime liaison with a German Luftwaffe officer, Hans-Jürgen Soehring, during the occupation of France. For her crimes she received a sentence of eighteen months imprisonment, most of which was served in a private chateau.

In 1995, the government of France issued a series of limited edition coins to commemorate the centenary of film that included a 100 Franc coin bearing her image.

Arletty by Madame d’Ora, Paris, 1920 via

Arletty by Madame d’Ora, 1929 via

Arletty by Madame d’Ora, Paris, 1920 via

Arletty by Madame d’Ora, Paris, 1920 via

Arletty by Madame d’Ora, Paris, 1920 via