The key facts
- Von Unwerth linked her approach to ten years of working as a model
- She backed Sydney Sweeney amid the controversy over her advertising campaign
- The ToiletEllen Paper vonUnwerth Calendar 2027 with Toiletpaper has been released; exhibitions in Maastricht and Saint-Tropez are in preparation
From model to photographer
German photographer Ellen von Unwerth, who has been shooting sensual and provocative portraits for more than thirty years, told Euronews in the European Lens episode how her style took shape. According to her, the impetus was ten years of working as a model, when photographers demanded that she 'not move and just pose,' while she wanted to express herself. Her then boyfriend gave her her first camera, after which she began photographing her model friends in her vintage clothes and printing the shots at night in a home darkroom.
Career and iconic shots
Von Unwerth names the shoot of Claudia Schiffer for Guess as the start of her career: she convinced Paul Marciano to try a model who, in her words, resembled Brigitte Bardot, and the shots taken in a single night were 'talked about by everyone.' Among her other works are images with Naomi Campbell, David Bowie, Sophia Loren and Drew Barrymore. She describes her approach as a 'female gaze,' under which, she claims, she has never objectified women.
Reaction to the controversy around Sydney Sweeney
In the interview, von Unwerth commented on Sydney Sweeney's recent advertising campaign, which had previously drawn criticism from female athletes. 'Sydney Sweeney decides for herself what to do, and that's what she wants. She doesn't look around at anything, and in a way I really like that,' the photographer said, adding that 'not everyone is thrilled,' but a person has the right to live as they see fit.
On artificial intelligence
Von Unwerth admitted that she uses AI for retouching and animating her shots, and tells critics that 'it's a tool, you have to jump on this train.' At the same time, she called AI 'a huge monster bearing down on humanity' and confessed that it frightens her, since it takes work away from many people, while models create their own AI versions of themselves.
Calendar with Toiletpaper and new projects
The collaboration with Toiletpaper magazine, created by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, began after an exhibition at Fotografiska in Berlin, where von Unwerth photographed a pool filled with plastic bananas and shared the shots on Instagram. In the ToiletEllen Paper vonUnwerth Calendar 2027, her images alternate with Toiletpaper works — six frames from each side, selected so that viewers look for matches. The calendar is published by Damiani Books and is already available. Von Unwerth also has a major exhibition, My Circus, running in Maastricht (about 130 works inspired by her youth as an assistant to a circus juggler), a small exhibition titled Not Your Angel is being prepared in Saint-Tropez, along with several book projects, a perfume and a film, Revenge, based on her book — its shooting was previously planned in Ukraine but fell through due to COVID.
