William Klein

Résumé · This astonishing book, designed and selected by Klein himself, is a visual history of his long and varied career. Including iconic images, painted contact sheets, magazine covers and previously unseen images, the book is arranged chronologically from the 1950s through to the present. The seminal photo-books of the 1950s and 1960s are represented by their graphically powerful jackets and stunning spreads, as fresh and startling today as when they burst upon the world. Fashion photographs in both black and white and colour, range from moody portraits to filmic, surreal tableaux, revealing Klein’s revolutionary impact on the genre. Film posters and film stills show the ways in which he captured and commented on the spirit of the times, creating biopics of Muhammad Ali and Little Richard and feature films with stars including Donald Pleasance and Serge Gainsbourg. The journey through Klein’s work concludes with a selection of his recent, colour photographs, including the extraordinary scenes he found when shooting in London in 2011 among the crowds during the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.