Baron Adolph de Meyer

Baron Adolph de Meyer was born in Paris, France in 1868. He studied photography in Germany during a time when photography was boosting, by not only technical advances but also photography started to become an actual art form. He was inspired by Alfred Stieglitz, Gertrude Kasebier, and Alvin Langdon Coburn in the 1890’s. He later moved to London in 1895 where he met his wife Olga Caracciolo godchild of Edward VII. In 1903 he became a member of the Linked Ring a british photographic society. His favorite subject to photograph was ballet, he loved it so much that he helped bring Le Ballets Russes to England in 1911. At the beginning of World War I, him and his wife decided to move to the United States. Almost right away when he arrived to New York in 1913, he was hired by Conde Nast at Vogue and Vanity Fair. He created very soft romantic images of society women wearing the latest trends. He made his models seem very nonchalantly beautiful and focused a lot on shiny surfaces. In 1922 he made a very daring move and left Vogue to work for their rival: Haper’s Bazaar in Paris where he was named chief of fashion photographer. Baron Adolph de Meyer revolutionized fashion photography with his distinctive and thoroughly thought out work and view on how the magazine should really look. He made a difference in the world of photography and influence a lot of very talented photographers of his time. His wife, muse, and greatest inspiration Olga died in 1930 and slowly afterwards he stopped his work in photography and moved to Los Angeles were he tried to take on writing. Regardless of how his career ended Baron Adolph de Meyer was a very successful photography who brought upon a lot of new techniques that are still being used today. He was the highest paid and fist contract fashion photographer in the world and most definitely transformed the meaning of being a true fashion photographer.