Person Details

Birthday: 1928-04-19 12:21:43

Aliases: Bill Klein

Gender: N/A

Place of birth: New York City, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 32

TV Involvements: 2


Most Famous Work

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. William Klein (born in New York, New York, USA, on April 19, 1928) is a photographer and filmmaker noted to for his ironic approach to both media and his extensive use of unusual photographic techniques in the context of photojournalism and fashion photography. Trained as a painter, Klein studied under Fernand Léger and found early success with exhibitions of his work. However, he soon moved on to photography and achieved widespread fame as a fashion photographer for Vogue and for his photo essays on various cities. Despite having no training as a photographer, Klein won the Prix Nadar in 1957 for New York, a book of photographs taken during a brief return to his hometown in 1954. Klein's work was considered revolutionary for its "ambivalent and ironic approach to the world of fashion", its "uncompromising rejection of the then prevailing rules of photography" and for his extensive use of wide-angle and telephoto lenses, natural lighting and motion blur. Klein tends to be cited in photography books along with Robert Frank as among the fathers of street photography, one of those mixed compliments that classifies a man who is hard to classify. The world of fashion would become the subject for Klein's first feature film, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?, which, like his other two fiction features, Mr. Freedom and Le Couple Témoin, is a satire. Klein has directed numerous short and feature-length documentaries and has produced over 250 television commercials. Though American by birth, Klein has lived and worked in France since his late teens. His work has sometimes been openly critical of American society and foreign policy; the film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum once wrote that Klein's 1968 satire Mr. Freedom was "conceivably the most anti-American movie ever made". Description above from the Wikipedia article William Klein, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Most Famous Work

Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?
Average
7

Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?

(1966) Dialogue
Mr. Freedom
Average
5

Mr. Freedom

(1969) Writer
Muhammad Ali: The Greatest
Average
6

Muhammad Ali: The Greatest

(1974) Director
The Model Couple
Average
4

The Model Couple

(1977) Writer
In and Out of Fashion
Average
6

In and Out of Fashion

(1998) Director
Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther
Average
8
The Panafrican Festival in Algiers
Average
10
Far from Vietnam
Average
7

Far from Vietnam

(1967) Director

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2013 Himself
2000 Self
1998 Self (archive footage)
1985 (Record covers of the Year)
1962 A Man from the Future
Year Character Movie/Tv

Camera

Year Role Movie/Tv
1999 Director of Photography
1974 Director of Photography
1958 Director of Photography
Year Role Movie/Tv

Directing

Creator

Year Role Movie/Tv
1989 Creator
Year Role Movie/Tv

Crew

Year Role Movie/Tv
1978 Cinematography
1977 Cinematography
1969 Cinematography
Year Role Movie/Tv

Writing

Editing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1958 Editor
Year Role Movie/Tv

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