Ellen von Unwerth (born 1954) is a German photographer. She began her career as a fashion model, before becoming a fashion, editorial, and advertising photographer.

Early life and education

Unwerth was born in Frankfurt, West Germany. Eventually, Unwerth was able to graduate high school in Munich, where she would work as a circus magician's assistant for three years.

Unwerth's first notable work was when she first photographed Claudia Schiffer in 1989. Her work has been published in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Interview, The Face, Arena, Twill, L'Uomo Vogue, I-D, and Playboy, and she has published several books of photography.

Unwerth did promotional photography for Duran Duran from 1994 to 1997 and did some photography for their 1990 album Liberty and 1997 album Medazzaland'. Her work has been used on other album covers including Bananarama's Pop Life (1991), Belinda Carlisle's A Woman and a Man (1996), Cathy Dennis' Am I the Kinda Girl? (1996), Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope (1997), All Saints' Saints & Sinners (2000), Dido's Life for Rent (2003), Britney Spears' Blackout (2007), Christina Aguilera's Back To Basics (2006) and Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits and Rihanna's Rated R and Talk That Talk. She also shot the cover of Hole's album Live Through This (1994).

She shows women in enticing ways without objectifying them. In an interview with V Magazine, she said: "I never force women to do anything, but I give them roles to play so they are always active and empowered. In a 2018 interview with Harper's Bazaar, she explained her feminist approach to photography: "The women in my pictures are always strong, even if they are also sexy. My women always look self-assured. I try to make them look as beautiful as they can because every woman wants to feel beautiful, sexy and powerful. That's what I try to do." After major success with Opera Gallery Group in Monaco and London, Ellen attended her third exhibition in Opera Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon on 15 December 2018, celebrating femininity with selection of curated art work by featuring celebrities like Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss and other celebrities.

Unwerth photographed Melania Trump for the poster for Trump's 2026 documentary film Melania.

Filmmaking

Unwerth has directed short films for fashion designers, and music videos for several pop musicians. She has directed commercials and web films for Revlon, Clinique, L'Oreal and Equinox.

Publications

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Films

  • I Create Myself – Demi Moore (1997)
  • Naomi – Katherine Hammett
  • Wendybird – Kirsten Dunst; short film of Erin Fetherston's Fall/Winter collection

Music videos

  • "Femme Fatale" – Duran Duran (1993)
  • "I Will Catch You" – Nokko (1993)
  • "Ain't Nuthin' But a She Thang" – Salt-N-Pepa (1995)
  • "Are 'Friends' Electric?" – Nancy Boy (1995)
  • "Electric Barbarella" – Duran Duran (1997)
  • "Bring It On" – N'Dea Davenport (1998)
  • "I Got Trouble" – Christina Aguilera (2007)
  • "Fragment One-And I Kept Hearing" – Kenneth Bager (2010)
  • "Year of 4" – Beyoncé (2011)
  • "Never Been in Love" – Cobra Starship ft. Icona Pop (2014)

Awards

  • 1991: First prize, International Festival of Fashion Photography
  • 2020: Editorial, Advertising and Fashion Photography award, Royal Photographic Society, Bristol, UK

References

  • Von Unwerth at the Music Video Database
  • Ellen von Unwerth on Vimeo