Hi everyone, today is the arrival of a new feature on my blog. Besides movies and televisions, photography is another one of my passions. So I decided to begin a series of posts that discuss and analyse the work of famous photographers. Today is the turn of Ellen Von Unwerth.
Now the first thing I always notice about a photo from Ellen Von Unwerth is the candour of it. Rather than the always glamorous sheen of Hollywood that hangs over many a photo shoot, her photos have an edge to them that refuses to conform to the rules. She features her subjects doing everyday things and captures them almost unvarnished and heavily made up, giving her shots a certain messy quality that goes against the grain. Sexuality plays a big part of her work. Fantasies and fetishes play out through her shots, with humour covering a number of them and aggression forming another. Her work celebrates the female form in sexual terms as well as a sense of control, that doesn’t feel exploitative. She gets her subjects to live in front of the camera and not just be motionless and pouting. So there are my thoughts on her work and below are some of her shots. What do you make of them? Do they make you interested in her work? Whatever the case, please leave an opinion.
vinnieh 
I might have guessed your photo choices might have a sexy edge to them, V!
Love the candid one of Madonna.
Best wishes, Pete.
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You know me so well Pete. That is a really good shot, there’s a freedom to her photos, sort of a no cares thing that I always feel.
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This is a really interesting feature, Vinnie! I’ve never really put too much thought into photography, but there really is so much depth to these photos. I love them all!
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Hi Mel, nice to hear from you. Do you have a favourite photo from here?
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I like them all a lot but I think my favourite is the redhead (maybe I’m biased) – the second photo. It’s sexy and sweet and I love it 🙂
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The Lana Del Rey one is a very good choice Mel.
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Oh! That’s Lana Del Ray! I didn’t even recognize her. She usually looks so sombre in pictures.
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Haha, she looks as if she’s having a ball in this photo.
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Or Liv Tyler with the ray gun
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Love the sci-fi tone to that one.
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Those are some really cool photos. I personally quite like Annie Leibovitz and Linda McCartney’s work.
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Thanks for the recommendations. Which photo catches your eye the most from the ones I assembled?
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I quite like the one of Emma Watson and Liv Tyler (it is her, right?). The one of Madonna is cool too.
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Yes that is Liv Tyler. I like how the photos have that candid nature to them and how her subjects are doing more than just staring at the camera.
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Absolutely! Authenticity of some kind is important.
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It definitely is. Its good that her photos have an erotic edge but aren’t sleazy.
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Great encapsulation. They’re all so playfully vibrant. It’s like you’re hanging out with them while they get ready for a big event, are killing time before a big event, or blowing off steam having come from one. Fun stuff. 😀
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You summed up why I like her photos so perfectly. They have a sort of behind the scenes quality before the big event and capture the little moments of the person.
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There’s something very fun about these shots.
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Such a vibrancy and energetic frisson.
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Ellen Von Unwerth–hadn’t heard of her before. Her shots are like hard candy. I think they’re cool.
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I’m happy to introduce you to her work Cindy.
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I always love looking at Ellen von Unwerth’s photos – they always have an incredible sense of energy and colour. Great choices here!
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I’m always entranced by her work: so much energy, sexuality and playfulness on show.
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I think this is a great idea Vinnie! I love checking out the work of different photographers. I haven’t heard of Ellen Von Unwerth. 😊
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I’m happy to introduce you to her work Kim.
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I adore the Liv Tyler shot!!
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It is a very good shot.
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And here’s the link to the body acceptance post of mine that has proven popular. https://vinnieh.wordpress.com/2015/09/24/love-your-bum-part-3/
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Not sure who the spaghetti eater is, but she’s sexy as hell! Meow!!
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The spaghetti eater is Olga Kurylenko and she is hot.
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Olga! OMG, yes, she’s on my list of top 10 most beautiful women! I can’t believe I didn’t recognize her!!
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She’s a real stunner and I love that photo of her.
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“She gets her subjects to live in front of the camera and not just be motionless and pouting.” love that analysis Vin, great stuff. I can’t say I’ve heard of her but I’m intrigued now. 😉
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Thanks Tom, yeah I discovered her work a few years back and I love looking through it.
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Oh yeah, I did a post entitled Love Your Bum part 3 to encourage body acceptance, it’s garnered quite a lot of attention.
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Great post I love Ellen Von Unwerth’s photography!
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She captures a real atmosphere of erotic femininity, sexual freedom and joy of life throughout her work.
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Thanks for commenting in my blog. Returning the visit, and as a photographer, this post challenges me to comment. I find it interesting that you only chose colour images by Unwerth. I have to say that I much prefer her b/w work. It obviously is more pared-back because the added distraction of colour isn’t there. But it is often also a bit more varied in photographic technique – a necessity if colour is absent. Anyhow, she has been going strong ever since the 80s – and I find her fashion work still as exciting as it was 30 years ago.
Hope you do more of these photography posts!
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Thanks for the response, it was great to hear from someone with a passion for photography.
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Pingback: Photography Discussion – vinnieh
Is the second one Lana Del Rey?
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Yes it is.
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Fascinating, some are hard to recognise and I think that’s intentional to show a different side to them or to have it be about the picture rather than the celebrity. What do you think?
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I agree with you. Her photos bring out a freedom within the subjects I find. They get to showcase themselves in different ways with creative results.
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