Horst (1906-1999)

Aliases: Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann; Horst Bormann; Horst Horst; Horst P. Horst; Horst Paul Horst; Horst P.

Professions: Photographer

Mainbocher Corset, Paris, 1939
Lisa with Harp, 1940
Classical Still Life, 1937
Mainbocher Corset, Paris, 1939

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Horst Biography

(b Weissenfels, Germany, 14 Aug 1906). American photographer of German birth. After briefly studying Chinese in Frankfurt am Main and then working for a firm of importers, he entered the Kunstgewerbeschule in Hamburg, where from 1926 to 1928 he designed and made furniture. Following this he went to work as an architectural assistant to Le Corbusier in Paris. There he met George Hoyningen-Huene, who worked as a photographer for Vogue , and through him Cecil Beaton. In 1931 he himself began working as a photographer for Vogue , at first producing images influenced by Hoyningen-Huene. His photographs soon achieved an individual style, however, characterized by their striking light effects and sensual use of the models. In 1932 he spent several months working for American Vogue in New York, but his employment was terminated before the end of his six-month contract. He emigrated in 1935 to the USA, again working as a photographer for American Vogue while continuing to contribute to the French edition until the late 1940s. He spent much of his time in New York and Paris, meeting celebrities such as the film director Luchino Visconti and the fashion designer Coco Chanel.

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