Being the man who took the most cover photos for Vogue magazine, Erwin Blumenfeld has become a legend in fashion photography.  Blumenfeld’s work ranges from collages mocking Adolf Hitler to Dadaism inspired fashion images.

Born in Berlin, Germany on January 26th, 1897, Blumenfeld’s love for photography would eventually lead to his professional career as a photographer in 1934.

By 1936, Blumenfeld moved to Paris, France and within a year his photos were being published in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.  An accomplishment to say the least!

When Nazi’s began to occupy France during World War II, Blumenfeld was taken to a concentration camp.  Luckily he escaped, taking him on a journey to New York in 1941.  After gaining American citizenship, Blumenfeld continued his amazing and nostalgic work as a fashion visionary until his death in Rome on July 4th, 1969.

His legacy has been celebrated by his wife Lena Citroen, whom he married in 1921, and his three children: Henry, Lisette, and Yorick.

Here is a great source for some of his best photos:  http://www.photographyoffice.com/2011/06/25-fashion-photographs-by-master-of-photography-erwin-blumenfeld/

Below is a video showing some of Blumenfeld’s Fashion Film Experiments:

Blumenfeld’s influence has a tremendous impact on modern day fashion photography and film.  Check out this CHANEL tribute to Erwin Blumenfeld:

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from this brilliant photographer:

“Day and night I try, in my studio with its six two-thousand watt suns, balancing between the extremes of the impossible, to shake loose the real from the unreal, to give visions body, to penetrate into unknown transparencies.” -Erwin Blumenfeld