biography
Ellen von Unwerth, born 1954 in Germany, gained widely attention with her sensual
Guess campaign in the early 1990s, followed by campaigns for Absolut, Agent Provocateur,
A.P.C., Aston Martin, Baccarat, Belvedere, Chanel, Chantal Thomass, Crazy Horse,
David Morris, Diesel, Dior, Elisabetta Franchi, Ferragamo, G-Star, Guerlain, H&M,
Hysteric Glamour, Jimmy Choo, Lacoste, L’Oréal, MAC Cosmetics, Mary Katrantzou,
Mercedes-Benz, Miu Miu, Opel, Revlon, Rolex, Shiseido, Tommy Hilfiger, Veuve Cliquot,
Victoria’s Secret, and many more.
She is a regular contributor to magazines all over the world, like Cosmopolitan, Egoïste, ELLE,
Glamour, i-D, Interview, Lula, Numéro, Paper Magazine, Playboy, Stern, The Face, The New York Times,
Vanity Fair, and many international Vogue editions (American, French, German, Italian, Russian).
Furthermore she directed short films for clients like Azzedine Alaïa, Dior, Guess,
and Katherine Hamnett, and a range of commercials and music videos.
Her book projects are an important part of her career: Her first book, Snaps, was published
in 1994, followed by Wicked (1998), Couples (1999), the photo-novella Revenge (2003),
Omahyra & Boyd (2005), Fräulein (2009), DieSpieler (2010), the photo-novella
The Story of Olga (2012), and lately Heimat (2017).
Her works have been exhibited worldwide, and are part of various collections.
Her exhibition « Devotion! 30 Years of Photographing Women » was the main show at Fotografiska
Stockholm in 2018 and will open the Fotografiska New York venue in January 2020,
the show will tour at London and Tallin in the upcoming two years.
Ellen von Unwerth won several prizes, amongst others the first prize
at the International Festival of Fashion Photography in 1991, and the LUCIE award
for career achievement in October 2019 at Carnegie Hall, New York.