William Klein

William Klein (1928–2022) was an American photographer and filmmaker whose radical vision upended both commercial and street photography in the mid‑20th century. Born in New York City, he trained as a painter under Fernand Léger in Paris before discovering the expressive potential of the 35 mm camera. In 1957 Klein’s first book, New York, won the Prix Nadar for its gritty, high‑contrast street images—boldly shot with wide‑angle lenses, unpredictable framing, and spontaneous motion blur.

From 1954 to 1966 he also worked as a fashion photographer for Vogue, where his ironic, avant‑garde editorials—satirizing the very world he documented—earned him a reputation as an iconoclast. Eschewing polished studio lighting, Klein brought the city into the frame: models cavorted amid traffic, fabrics whipped in gusts of wind, and the energy of the streets infiltrated every couture spread.

In the 1960s Klein turned to cinema, writing, directing, and designing Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966)—a biting, surreal spoof of the fashion industry—and later fiction features like Mr. Freedom (1968) and Le Couple Témoin (1977). Alongside over 250 television commercials and numerous documentaries, these films extended his photographic ethos—collision of high and low culture, incisive social critique, and playful formal experimentation—into moving images.

Throughout his six‑decade career, Klein challenged conventions: he blurred genres, embraced technical “imperfections,” and fused reportage with abstraction. His books—Rome (1956), Tokyo (1964), Moscow (1999)—and his groundbreaking commercial work reshaped how photographers approached both the street and the studio. When he passed away in Tokyo in 2022, Klein left behind a legacy of fearless innovation, reminding us that photography’s power lies in its ability to shock, delight, and provoke new ways of seeing.