THE NAKED AND THE VEILED
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NUDES
OF ERWIN BLUMENFELD

EDITED BY YORICK BLUMENFELD
THAMES & HUDSON (1999)

ERWIN BLUMENFELD was a well-known fashion photographer who worked in Amsterdam and New York
from the late 30s to the 50s. During this time he also
photographed nude models with a eye to celebrating the
same kind of female beauty to be found in the classical
paintings of Botticelli and Memling. Blumenfeld was
obsessed with female beauty and employed all the tricks of the studio and darkroom to capture its elusive essence. He photographed models thru screens, veils, perforated metal and even made use of fun-house mirrors. Blumenfeld would
have loved Photoshop. His most famous work (1944) was "Nude on Coca-Cola Chair". Here I juxtapose some of Blumenfeld's photos with quotes from various scriptures.