Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

William Klein, American photographer in Paris, dies at 96

This photo provided by William Klein's family shows American photographer William Klein in Paris, France in 2016. Klein whose innovative portraiture style strongly influenced fashion and street photography in the second half of the 20th century, died Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022 in Paris at 96. (Zhong Weixing/Family handout via AP) This photo provided by William Klein's family shows American photographer William Klein in Paris, France in 2016. Klein whose innovative portraiture style strongly influenced fashion and street photography in the second half of the 20th century, died Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022 in Paris at 96. (Zhong Weixing/Family handout via AP)
Share
PARIS -

William Klein, an American photographer whose innovative portraiture style strongly influenced fashion and street photography in the second half of the 20th century, has died at 96.

Klein died Saturday in Paris, his son, Pierre Klein, said in a statement Monday.

Born in New York City in 1926 to Hungarian Jewish parents, Klein grew up in Manhattan and studied sociology at the City College of New York. After serving in Europe with the U.S. army during Second World War, he moved to Paris to study painting under the G.I. Bill.

Klein met and married Jeanne Florin, a model and painter, soon after his arrival in Paris. The couple lived together in France until her death in 2005.

Klein, who studied briefly with French painters Andre Lhote and Fernand Leger, had his first solo exhibition of paintings in Brussels in 1951, and another in Milan a year later. In 1954, he turned his attention to photography after meeting Alexander Liberman, the artistic director at Vogue, and began a 10-year collaboration with the magazine.

During the same period, he created a groundbreaking photographic diary of his native New York, titled "Life is Good & Good For You in New York." The book featured Klein's unconventional use of wide angles, contrasts in composition and unusual framing, which came to define the still-nascent genre of street photography.

The book was published in Paris, London and Rome in 1956 and won the Nadar Prize the following year. He published other photo diaries of other cities, Rome in 1959, Moscow and Tokyo in 1964, and Paris in 2002.

He was also a noted filmmaker, producing several documentary and feature films throughout his career, addressing topics like the fashion industry, the war in Vietnam and famed boxer Muhammed Ali.

Klein first ventured into cinema in 1956, when Italian director Federico Fellini, impressed by Klein's raw images of New York City street life, had asked him to work on his 1957 film "Nights of Cabiria," about a prostitute in Rome.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Haitian group in Ohio files citizen criminal charges against Trump and Vance

The leader of a nonprofit representing the Haitian community invoked a private-citizen right to file charges Tuesday against former U.S. president Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, over the chaos and threats experienced by Springfield, Ohio, since Trump first spread false claims about legal immigrants there during a presidential debate.

We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.

Local Spotlight

Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.

An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.

Fire has destroyed a barn and 17,000 plants at a family-owned business in Lower Coverdale, N.B.

Before influencers on social media, Canada’s Jeanne Beker was bringing the world of high fashion down to earth and as Calgary’s Glenbow Museum gets a major make-over, it will include a new exhibition showcasing the pop culture icon.

A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

A Nova Scotian YouTuber has launched a mini-truck bookmobile.

Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.