Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt (born Hermann Wilhelm Brandt; 2 May 1904 – 20 December 1983),^[1]:14 was a British photographer and photojournalist. Although born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his images of British society for such magazine as Lilliput and Picture Post, later his distorted nudes, portraits of famous artists and landscapes. He is widely considered to be one of the most important British photographers of the 20th century.^[1]

Career and life

Born in Hamburg, Germany, son of a British father and German mother, Brandt grew up during World War I, during which his father, who had lived in Germany since the age of five, was interned for six months by the Germans as a British citizen.^[1]:21 Brandt later disowned his German heritage and would claim he was born in South London.^[2] Shortly after the war, he contracted tuberculosis and spent much of his youth in a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland.^[3] He traveled to Vienna to undertake a course of treatment by psychoanalysis. He was, in any case, pronounced cured and was taken under the wing of socialite Eugenie Schwarzwald. When Ezra Pound visited the Schwarzwald residence, Brandt made his portrait. In appreciation, Pound allegedly offered Brandt an introduction to Man Ray, whose Paris studio and darkroom Brandt would access in 1930.^[2]

In 1933 Brandt moved to London and began documenting all levels of British society. This kind of documentary was uncommon at that time. Brandt published two books showcasing this work, The English at Home (1936) and A Night in London (1938). He was a regular contributor to magazines such as Lilliput, Picture Post, and Harper's Bazaar. He documented the Underground bomb shelters of London during The Blitz in 1940, commissioned by the Ministry of Information.^[2]

During World War II, Brandt concentrated on many subjects – as can be seen in his "Camera in London" (1948) but excelled in portraiture and landscape. To mark the arrival of peace in 1945 he began a celebrated series of nudes. His major books from the post-war period are Literary Britain (1951), and Perspective of Nudes (1961), followed by a compilation of his best work, Shadow of Light (1966). Brandt became Britain's most influential and internationally admired photographer of the 20th century. Many of his works have important social commentary but also poetic resonance. His landscapes and nudes are dynamic, intense and powerful, often using wide-angle lenses and distortion.^[2]

Brandt died in London in 1983.

Exhibition

• 2004: Bill Brandt: A Centenary Retrospective, 24 March – 25 July 2004, Victoria & Albert Museum, London. "A selection of rare and famous prints from the Brandt archive".^[4][5]
• 2013: Shadow and Light, Museum of Modern Art, New York. Curated by Sarah Hermanson Meister.^[6][7]
• 2013: Bill Brandt, Early Prints from the Collection of the Family @Edwynn Houk, Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York. "A selection of rare and famous prints from the Brandt archive".^[8]

Recognition

Blue plaque, 4 Airlie Gardens

In 2010, an English Heritage blue plaque for Bill Brandt was erected in London at 4 Airlie Gardens, Kensington, W8.

Bibliography

• Delany, Paul: Bill Brandt: A Life, Stanford University Press 2004
• Brandt, Bill. Camera in London. London: Focal Press, 1948.
• Brandt, Bill. The English at Home. New York: C. Scribner's; London: B. T. Batsford, 1936. Introduction by Raymond Mortimer.
• Brandt, Bill. Literary Britain. London: Cassell and Company Ltd., 1951. Introduction by John Hayward.
• Brandt, Bill. Bill Brandt: Perspective of Nudes. London: The Bodley Head, 1961; New York: Amphoto, 1961.
• Brandt, Bill. Perspectives sur le Nu. Paris: Editions Prisma, 1961.
• Brandt, Bill. Ombres d'une Ile. Paris: Editions Le Belier Prisma, 1966.
• Brandt, Bill. Bill Brandt: Early Photographs, 1930-1942. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1975.
• Brandt, Bill. Shadow of Light. London: Bodley Head, 1966; New York: Viking Press, 1966; New York: Da Capo, 1977; London: Gordon Fraser, 1977.
• Brandt, Bill. Bill Brandt: Nudes 1945-1980 The Gordon Fraser, London and Bedford 1980 Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1980.
• Brandt, Bill. London in the Thirties. London: G. Fraser, 1983; New York: Pantheon Books, 1983.
• Brandt, Bill. Portraits: Photographs by Bill Brandt. London: G. Fraser, 1982; Austin: University of Texas Press, 1982.
• Brandt, Bill. Nudes: Bill Brandt. Bulfinch Press, January 1980
• Brandt, Bill. Bill Brandt. London: Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., 1976
• Brandt, Bill. Bill Brandt: Photographs 1928-1983. Thames and Hudson, 1993
• Brandt, Bill. Bill Brandt. Milan: Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, 1982.
• Brandt, Bill. Brandt: The Photographs of Bill Brandt. Thames and Hudson, 1999
• Brandt, Bill. Brandt: Nudes Thames and Hudson, 2012
• Brandt, Bill. Shadow and Light, Sarah Hermanson Meister, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (March 31, 2013)
• Burgin, Victor (ed.). Thinking Photography. Macmillan Press Ltd. 1982
• Goldberg, Vicki. Photography in Print; Writings from 1816 to the Present. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1981
• Haworth-Booth, Mark. Contemporary British Photography: Into the 1990s. Aperture Foundation, Inc., January 1989
• Iverson, Margaret (ed.). Psychoanalysis. Art History 17(3), September 1994
• Jay, Bill. Occam's Razor: Outside-in Viewing Contemporary Photography. Germany: Nazraeli Press, 1994
• Jeffrey, Ian. Photography: Concise History. Thames and Hudson, World of Art Series, 1981, reprinted 1989
• Kee, Robert. The Picture Post Album. London, 1993
• Kelly, Jain (ed.). Nude:Theory. Lustrum Press, Inc. 1979.
• Mellor, David. Bill Brandt: Behind the Camera Photographs 1923-1983. New York:Aperture, 1985
• Read, John. Portrait of an Artist: Henry Moore. London, 1979.
• Time Life Books Editors. The Print Time Life International, 1972.
• Wells, Liz (ed.). Photography, A Critical Introduction. Routledge, 1997.
• Warburton, Nigel (ed.). Bill Brandt; Selected texts and bibliography. Oxford: Clio Press, 1993; Macmillan Library Reference, 1994.
• Hopkinson, Tom. Poetry: Bill Brandt - Photographer. Lilliput 11(2):130-41

References

Sources

• V&A Working methods, accessed, 30 March 2010

External links

• The Bill Brandt Archive – biography and images.
• Bill Brandt at the Art Institute of Chicago
• Bill Brandt at Artcyclopedia – list of image galleries and museum exhibits.
• Exploring 20th century London - Bill Brandt Photographs by Bill Brandt in the Museum of London collection
• Bill Brandt images in the English Heritage Archive- 449 war time photographs by Bill Brandt.
• Bill Brandt video
• Brandt at Victoria and Albert Museum, London