Ellen von Unwerth
Ellen von Unwerth started her career as the subject of photographs, but is now known for turning the tables and taking up a camera herself. After a decade-long modeling career (and a brief stint as a circus performer), the German-born von Unwerth taught herself to use a camera and, by the 1980s, had become a renowned fashion photographer. She has said that her own time as a model has allowed her to achieve the playfulness her pictures are famous for — she knows what it's like to have to stand still, so she encourages the women she photographs to move — and that sympathy has become part of the von Unwerth mythology. The result is a unique look at feminine sensuality. A woman in a von Unwerth photograph is not just an erotic figure — she's a real person with a sense of humor and a fine appreciation for the joy of being naughty.