ARTISTVIEW ALL

An English photographer of German birth, Bill Brandt travelled to Vienna in 1927 to see a lung specialist and then decided to stay and find work in a photography studio. There, in 1928, he met and made a successful portrait of the poet Ezra Pound, who subsequently introduced Brandt to the American-born, Paris-based photographer Man Ray. Brandt arrived in Paris to begin three months of study as an apprentice at the Man Ray Studio in 1929, at the height of the era’s enthusiasm for photographic exhibitions and publications; his work from this time shows the influence of André Kertész and Eugène Atget, as well as Man Ray and the Surrealists. Upon his return to London, in 1931, Brandt was well versed in the language of photographic modernism. During the 1930s he published his important early monographs The English at Home (1932) and A Night in London (1932) in addition to becoming a frequent contributor to the illustrated press, specifically Picture Post, Lilliput, Weekly Illustrated, and Verve, his published pictures exemplifying his technical skill and his interest in building visual narratives. Some of his most significant reportages represented the extreme conditions created by World War II. After the war, Brandt began a long exploration of the female nude, transforming the body through the angle and frame of the camera lens.
—Mitra AbbaspourMay 3, 1904 |
Born
At location: Bill Brandt
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Hamburg |
1918 |
Takes art lessons with K.E. Ort, a Czech architect, at the Kunstgewerbeschule
At location: Bill Brandt
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Hamburg |
1923–27 |
Convalesces from tuberculosis in a sanatorium
At location: Bill Brandt
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Davos |
1927 |
Begins photographing; likely apprentices for Grete Holliner
At location: Bill Brandt
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Vienna |
1927 |
Receives further treatment in Vienna
At location: Bill Brandt
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Vienna |
1929–31 |
Lives in Paris
At location: Bill Brandt
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Paris |
1929 |
Bill Brandt works as an assistant to Man Ray for a few months
At location: Bill Brandt, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky)
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Paris |
1920s–50s |
Develops a strong personal and professional relationship with Brassaï. The two often publish similar images concurrently in magazines such as Lilliput and Picture Post
Contributor: Bill Brandt
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Paris London |
1929 |
Makes a portrait of Ezra Pound using a Rolleiflex camera
At location: Bill Brandt
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Vienna |
1929 |
Travels and photographs in London
At location: Bill Brandt
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London |
June–September 1930 |
Das Lichtbild exhibition
Participant: Aenne Biermann, Bill Brandt, Max Burchartz, César Domela-Nieuwenhuis, Florence Henri, Lotte Jacobi, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, Helmar Lerski, Walter A. Peterhans, August Sander, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Edward Weston, Lucia Moholy, Werner Rohde, Franz Roh, Marianne Breslauer, Alexander Hackenschmied, Edmund Kesting, Jean Moral, Willy Zielke, Lore Feininger, Hans Finsler
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Munich |
1931–83 |
Lives in London
At location: Bill Brandt
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London |
1932–34 |
Travels and photographs in Spain, Germany, Hungary, and the United Kingdom
At location: Bill Brandt
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Spain Germany Hungary United Kingdom |
1932–45 |
Publishes photographs in Minotaure, Der Querschnitt, Weekly Illustrated, Lilliput, Picture Post, Harper's Bazaar, Verve, Life, Coronet, and Horizon
Contributor: Bill Brandt
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New York Chicago Paris Berlin London |
1933 |
Creates a series of photographs of peasants. The series was later published in Lilliput
At location: Bill Brandt
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Hungary |
1936 |
Publishes The English at Home
Contributor: Bill Brandt
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London |
1938 |
Publishes A Night in London after Brassaï publishes Paris de nuit (1933)
Contributor: Bill Brandt
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London |
1938 |
Londres de nuit at Galerie Chasseur d'Images
Participant: Bill Brandt
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Paris |
1945–50 |
Photographs the English countryside
At location: Bill Brandt
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England |
1945–60 |
Photographs his Perspective of Nudes series
At location: Bill Brandt
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England |
1948 |
Publishes Camera in London, which is followed in 1949 by Brassaï's Camera in Paris
Contributor: Bill Brandt
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London |
July 27–September 26, 1948 |
50 Photographs by 50 Photographers at The Museum of Modern Art
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New York |
November 30, 1948–February 10, 1949 |
Four Photographers: Lisette Model, Harry Callahan, Ted Croner, and Bill Brandt at The Museum of Modern Art
Participant: Bill Brandt, Lisette Model
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New York |
November 30, 1948–February 10, 1949 |
Photographs by Bill Brandt, Harry Callahan, Ted Croner, Lisette Model at The Museum of Modern Art
Participant: Bill Brandt, Lisette Model
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New York |
January 24–May 8, 1955 |
The Family of Man at The Museum of Modern Art
Organizer: Edward Steichen
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New York |
December 20, 1983 |
Dies
At location: Bill Brandt
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London |