The Naked and the Veiled: The Photographic Nudes of Erwin Blumenfeld

Blumenfeld gained fame as a fashion photographer, but he always considered his nude photographs to be his best and most important work. As a man he was obsessed with the female form. As an artist he worked endlessly to perfect a technique that would express that fascination - through solarization and negative printing, double and multiple exposures and other innovative devices. The 120 duotone and colour photographs shown here represent the peak of Blumenfeld's achievement. They have been selected by his son, Yorick, who also contributes an informative text. The book spans Blumenfeld's whole career from 1930s Amsterdam to 1960s New York. Blumenfeld's nudes - naturalistic, art-inspired, surrealist and erotic - represent an unrepeatable episode in the history of photography.