Chris von Wangenheim

Christoph von Wangenheim (21 February 1942 – 9 March 1981) was a top professional fashion photographer of the late 1960s through early 1980s.

Biography

Christoph was born in Brieg near Breslau, Germany (now Brzeg resp. Wrocław, Poland), being the son of Konrad Freiherr von Wangenheim, an German aristocratic who became a well-known horse rider at the Olympic Games 1936 in Berlin as Gold Medalist in Team Eventing.

Christoph grew up in Bavaria after World War II, while his father never returned from Soviet POW camps, where he was obvoiusly hanged in 1953. From 1962, Christoph attended the Bavarian State College of Photography at Munich, where he graduated as Journeyman in 1964.

After that, he moved to New York in 1965 where he worked as a photographer's assistant of David Thorpe und James Moore until 1967 ^[1]. He started his own studio at Washington Square and began working for the American edition of Harper's Bazaar in 1968 and for the Italian edition of Harper's Bazaar in 1970. American Vogue became his primary outlet in 1972, but he also worked for its German, French and Italian editions, as well as for Esquire, Playboy, Interview, and Viva magazines. Chris von Wangenheim is also well-known for his successful advertisements for Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, and Revlon.

Supermodel Gia Carangi did her first major fashion shoot with him in October 1978. He also took the notorious photographs of Gia hanging and standing naked against a chain-link fence. Gia did several fashion photographs and layouts with von Wangenheim until his death.

While at the peak of his success, von Wangenheim died in a car crash in March 1981 at Saint Martin Island^[2].

Notes

1. ^ Fashion Theory, edited by Carol di Grappa, Lustrum Press, 1980.
2. ^ Catalogue of Wasserburg Gallery Exhibition 2010 (German)

External links

Biography portal

• Chris von Wangenheim at Staley Wise
• Underrated Photographers at Pop Photo

Persondata
Name	Von Wangenheim, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	21 February 1942
Place of birth	Brieg, Germany (today: Brzeg, Polonia)
Date of death	9 March 1981
Place of death	Saint Martin Island