Horst P. Horst

Horst P. Horst ( born August 14, 1906 in White Rock Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann as, † November 19, 1999 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, United States) was an American photographer of German origin. He was known for his photos for the fashion magazine Vogue and for his portraits of famous contemporaries. He is counted among the most important fashion photographers of the 20th century.

Life and work

Horst was born Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann as, second son of the merchant Max Bohrmann and his wife Klara (nee Schönbrodt ). Because of a slight tuberculosis he spent in the early 1920s a year in a Swiss sanatorium. After a brief study of Sinology in Frankfurt am Main, he worked as a clerk in an import / export company. In the late 1920s he studied architecture at the School of Applied Arts in Hamburg.

In 1930 he continued his studies in Paris with the architect Le Corbusier. He met the chief photographer of French Vogue George Hoyningen -Huene (1900-1968) know whose lover and frequent model he was for several years and through whom he came to photography. Already in the same year 1931 appeared in French Vogue a full-page ad for which he photographed a model in black velvet. During a visit with Hoyningen -Huene in London he met the photographer Cecil Beaton know who asked him to work for the British edition of Vogue. His breakthrough as a photographer, he managed with the appearance of the first British Vogue issue on 30 March 1932 for which he photographed a full-page portrait of the daughter of Sir James Hamet Dunn, an art patron and supporter of Surrealism. For this fashion magazine he worked in the following years in the major contemporary fashion centers (Paris, London, New York).

In 1935, he moved simultaneously with Hoyningen -Huene, in the United States, was from 1942 to 1945 during World War II Sergeant of the U.S. Army and became an American citizen. At the same time he took the name of Horst P. Horst. 1947 Horst moved his home in Oyster Bay, Long Iceland. In 1938, he met the British diplomat Valentine Lawford ( 1911-1991 ), with whom he lived until his death and became his biographer. The couple adopted a son, Richard J. Horst. In 1977 he was involved in organized by Manfred Schneckenburger documenta 6 in Kassel. He directed and photografierte many celebrities like Yves Saint Laurent, Gloria Vanderbilt and the Duke of Windsor.