Stunning Black-and-White Portraits of Famous People By George Hoyningen-Huene

George Hoyningen-Hue was remembered as one of the finest fashion photographers of the 1920s and 1930s. Born amidst wealth in St. Petersburg, Russia, he enjoyed a privileged childhood, exposed to different forms of art at an early age.

By 1914, his family fled the Russian Revolution to England before settling in the south of France after the war. Huene soon made his way to Paris where he began working as a fashion draftsman for his sister’s design while taking an interest in film. By selling illustrations to fashion magazines, Huene managed to sign a contract with Vogue, and by 1925 he had become the chief photographer for the French edition. In 1935, Huene moved to New York and began working almost exclusively for Harper’s Bazaar.

Huene was notably one of the first photographers to take pictures of models from a higher vantage point, giving them the quality of Greek sculpture. The photographer’s style was defined by his sophisticated use of lighting and shadow. Beyond fashion and celebrity portraits, Huene also worked in Hollywood, noticeably as special visual and color consultant for the 1954 film A Star Is Born.

Take a look at Huene’s 24 stunning black-and-white portraits of famous people from the 1920s:

Annabella, 1920s.

Princess Belosselsky, 1928.

Oliver Messel, 1929.

The Dodge Sisters, 1929.

Carole Lombard, 1930.

Coco Chanel, 1931.

Josephine Baker, 1931.

Yvonne Printemps, 1932.

Alanova, 1930s.

Jean Harlow, 1933.

Charlie Chaplin, 1934.

Claudette Colbert, 1934.

Gary Cooper, 1934.

Cecil Beaton, 1934.

Loretta Young, 1934.

Mae West, 1934.

Charles Boyer, 1934.

Miriam Hopkins, 1934.

James Cagney, 1934.

Katharine Hepburn, 1939.

Dolores del Rio, 1940.

Rita Hayworth, 1941.

Edward Steichen, 1941.

Ava Gardner, 1950.