Ellen von Unwerth

Ellen von Unwerth (b. 1954, Germany) gained wide attention with her Guess campaign in the early 1990s, followed by campaigns for the world's most recognizable brands including Chanel, Dior, Miu Miu, Guerlain, Mary Katrantzou, Agent Provocateur, Shiseido, and many more. Throughout her career, she has been a regular contributor to Vogue, i-D, Elle, Paper Magazine, The Face, Interview, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair, among others. In addition to commercials and popular music videos, she has directed short films for clients including famed fashion designers Azzedine Alaïa and Katharine Hamnett.

Held in prestigious collections, von Unwerth's works have been exhibited internationally in group and solo shows, including Devotion! 30 Years of Photographing Women at Fotografiska Stockholm. Book projects remain an important part of her practice. Her first book, Snaps, was published in 1994, followed by Wicked (1998), Couples (1999), Revenge (2003), Omahyra & Boyd (2005), Fräulein (2009), DieSpieler (2010), The Story of Olga (2012), and Heimat (2017). Von Unwerth won first prize at the International Festival of Fashion Photography in 1991 and continues to receive various honors including a Lucie Award for career achievement in fashion photography in 2019, a Royal Photographic Society Award in 2020, and an Iconic Photographer Influencer Award in 2021.