William Klein grew up in New York and, as a sculptor, went to work in Fernand Leger's Paris studio. He became interested in photography to record movement in his sculpture and started using a camera. He was soon photographing other things that took his interest, and in 1954 his work was seen by American Vogue art director (and another sculptor) Alexander Liberman, who offered him a contract as a fashion photographer.

Liberman saw in his work a fresh approach, and one that seemed to have a certain violence that would move the magazine away from the 'polite' images of Cecil Beaton. Because Klein did not know how to use a studio, he took the models out onto the streets to photograph. Later he pioneered the use of wide angle and telephoto lenses for fashion work.

Klein's photo-reportage style involved a rejection of the by now classic idea of the photographer as a 'fly on the wall', an unseen recorder of events. Klein recognized and through his methods emphasized the interaction between photographer and subject, often almost pushing his camera with wide angle lens into peoples faces.

He went on to produce a book, New York, New York (1956) which featured this quick reflex 35mm street photography with a graphic design and text which owed something to both the New York Daily News and cheap advertising. This was followed by later books on Rome (1960), Moscow (1964) and Tokyo (1964). All of these books are highly sought-after today.

Klein also made a number of movies, starting with one of the first Pop films, Broadway by Light; in 1962 he gave up still photography (except for a few fashion pictures for Vogue) to produce films on Muhammed Ali and Little Richard, the Vietnam War, and experimental films 'Mr Freedom' and 'Qui-Etes Vous Polly Magoo', which satirises Vogue.

Around 1980, Klein returned to still photography, mainly photographing people in crowd situations using an extreme wide angle lens. His work is held in major museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Museum of Modern Art de la Ville, Paris.

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SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

Grand Manege, Moscow, 1999
Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1999
Fnac, Paris, 1999
Pushkin Museum, Moscow, 1997
Saint-Gervais Center, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997
National Foundation, Madrid, Spain, 1997
Caixa Foundation, Barcelona, Spain, 1996
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA, 1996
Maison Europeene De La Photographie, Paris, 1996
Museum Of Modern Art, San Francisco, 1995
Fnac, Paris, Marseille And Travelling, 1995
International Center of Photography (Icp) New York, 1994
Presidential Palace, Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1994
Printemps De La Photo, Cahors, 1993
Morsbroich Museum, Leverkasen, 1993
Beaux Arts, Almeria, Spain, 1992
Stadts Museum, Munich, Germany, 1992
Hasselslad Center, Göteborg, Sweden, 1990
National Library, Turin, Italy, 1990
Volkwang Museum, Essen, Germany, 1990
Finnish Film Archives, Helsinki, Finland, 1989
Museum Of Moving Images, London, 1989
Musée d'Elysée, Lausanne, France, 1988
Osaka Museum, Osaka, Japan, 1988
Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Germany, 1988
Museum Of Photographic Arts, San Diego, California, USA, 1987
Printemps Ginza, Tokyo, Japan, 1987
Museum Of Modern Art, Paris, 1987
Victoria And Albert Museum, London, 1986
Fotofest, Houston, Texas, USA, 1986
Corcoran Gallery, Washington, USA, 1985
3 Castles In Drome, France, 1985
Municipal Galleries, Zagreb And Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1984
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1983
Municipal Gallery, Albi, France, 1982
International Festival, Malmö, 1982
American Centre, Paris, 1981
Moma, New York, 1980
National Foundation of Photography, Lyon, France, 1979

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If you enjoy the work of this artist, you should also look at images of New York from Elliott Erwitt

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