Erwin Blumenfeld (American/German, 1897–1969) was an influential photographer, best known for his work in the fashion industry in the 1940s and 1950s. Born in Berlin, Blumenfeld began photographing at an early age, and in 1913, got an apprenticeship with Sclochauer and Moses. After serving as an ambulance driver during World War I, in 1923, he established his own store in Amsterdam called the Fox Leather Company, which specialized in handbags.
In 1932, Blumenfeld began photographing his female customers, which were exhibited at a local gallery, and were later featured in the French journal Photographie. After his store went bankrupt in 1936, the artist moved to Paris, where he received commissions to create portraits of people in the art world, including artists Henri Matisse, Georges Rouault and Cecil Beaton. Beaton, impressed by Blumenfeld’s work, got him a contract with French Vogue in 1937.
During World War II, Blumenfeld spent time in a Nazi concentration camp, but eventually managed to flee to New 
York, where he was hired by Harper’s Bazaar. He spent three years at the magazine, before becoming a freelancer for American Vogue. Over the next 15 years, his work was published on the covers of renowned publications, such as Life, Flair, and Look. At the same time, he did photography for a Minneapolis-based department store Dayton’s. He also photographed ad campaigns for cosmetic companies, including Helena Rubinstein, L’Oreal, and Elizabeth Arden. By the 1950s, he was thought to be the highest paid photographer in the world.
Erwin Blumenfeld, Self-Portrait, 1937.
Blumenfeld’s work was influenced by artists such as Man Ray , George Grosz and Lucas Cranach. His fashion work was frequently shot in color, while his fine art photographs were monochromatic. He used a number of different techniques, such as double exposure, sandwich printing, solarization, veils, and mirrors.
His work has been shown around the world, in the Witkin Gallery in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Rachel Adler Gallery in New York, the Barbican Centre in London, the James Danziger Gallery in New York, the Ubu Gallery in New York, the Hague Museum of Photography in the Netherlands, the Museum Folkwang in Germany, the Somerset House in London, and the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow, among others. His work is part of the permanent collections of institutions such as the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.