[ Click Here to read Part I ]

On the move again

In the years after having left Vogue, his life becomes less smooth than in the 9 years he worked for Vogue. During his work for Harper's Bazaar he has to travel frequently to New York for work assignments and finally orients his private life more and more towards New York as well. Influenced by Art Director Alexej Brodovitsch, at Harper's Bazaar George's work becomes more realistic, less formal and more inventive. He starts to do color photographs from time to time. On the other hand, his work and life becomes more restless and he is no longer convinced to do the right thing. According to Ewing, the sudden end of a brief love affair to a young man put him in a deep depression. He went for Tunisia where he and Horst had built a summer house some years ago (in a Bauhaus-like style, including local elements), but his mood would not change for several weeks and preferred not to see anyone. After he felt better again, he took part in an expedition to Africa. He recorded his adventures in words and photos which later led to his book "African Mirage". During his journey to Africa, he meets the French author and philosopher André Gide, author of a book on an African journey as well. It was a new experience for him to do a great number of outside photographs where the scene and the light can not be mastered like in the studio. The naturality of Africa was a highly appreciated contrast to the artificial studio world. Both his former studio fashion photos and the photographs taken outside play with the light in an extraordinary way and restrict to clear, elegant, and classical lines.

When returning from Africa to his Tunisian home, he found a telegram of Carmel Snow, the editor or Harper's Bazaar. She seemed to be willing to accept his intemperance because of his talents: she asked him to go to Europe immediately to take portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. After having had so much fun with his "travel book" on Africa, he published others on Greece, Baalbek and Palmyra, Egypt, and on Mexiko. For these books, he left the writing to scholars.

With the focus on his travel books, he is less interested in his continuing fashion photography work which is reflected in some of the photographs compared with earlier ones. Besides, after the second world war (he was to old to serve), it seemed to him that fashion as it had been was irrelevant and fashion as it existed was banal. This feeling was shared by many others, first of all by Dior who therefore conceived the "New Look" style in 1947. George thinks about quitting fashion photography and in 1946, George leaves Harper's Bazaar and New York and moves to Mexico for a short time. Some years later he wrote in a response to a student's inquiry: "I think the change from slick photography to the present day came about for the following reasons: (a) many photographers started using strobe equipment; (b) most photographers were not particularly partial to intricate lighting, which is time consuming; (c) in fashion photography movement seemed more important than form; and (d) any change from one type or style is normal and healthy." His main succesors apart from Horst were Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, and Cecil Beaton. Reflecting these days when fashion photography still happened in studios, Avedon says "Huene was a genius, the master of us all."

In the time after having left Harper's Bazaar, he turned some films, mainly documentaries on art and architecture. They have all been lost. His work was highly appreciate by Hollywood film directors, especially by the famous George Cukor (see http://us.imdb.com/Name?Cukor,+George). His friend George Cukor convinces him to come over to California. He starts teaching at the Art Center School in Los Angeles, works briefly for the magazin Flair, and visits Egypt. In the early Fifties, he turns more towards the movie scene. Apart from some proper short movies and film projects, he starts to work as "Color Coordinator" for some of the first color movies of George Cukor in 1954, beginning with his film "A star is born". Cukor calls George Huene "a delightful travel companion" and states that George was indispensable for him.

George enjoys life in southern California. He is also in charge of designing backgrounds and costumes and prepares complex light effects. He also takes stills of the actors like of Sophia Loren, and photos of his friends Greta Garbo, and Katharine Hepburn (http://www.pinkpalm.com/pages/hollywood2.htm), He portrayed many famous actors, artists etc. like Charlie Chaplin, Duke and Duchesse of Windsor, Johnny Weissmuller, Alexander Calder. Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch, Kurt Weill, Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Judy Garland, and Gary Cooper (http://www.christies.com/events/apr99/photographs/catalogue/241.html)

In the mid-fifties, George was interested in expanding his own horizons and took mescalin (LSD) in an experiment conducted by his friends Aldous Huxley (author of "Brave New World") and Gerald Heard. George explained "They wished to try mescaline on a visually trained subject whose capacity for perception was precise and accurate." In reporting on his experiences, he states "After three quarters of an hour, I expressed a strong desire to go out into the garden. During the course of the experiment, I observed that the works of human beings were of no interest to me... The optics seemed to differ, distant views were of no consequence, but details of flowers, leaves... seemed to demand infinite attention, contemplation, study...I was living on another beam of consciousness... in complete harmony with natural surroundings.... After a few hours the effect ceased, and I came back to what we consider "normal". In conclusion I dare to compare what I had seen with a few great masters of painting - Turner, Redon, Van Gogh, Tchelitchev. They all seem to have enjoyed a visual capacity different from that of others.... A few days later I wrote a report and handed it to Huxley."

Jay Stephens recalls this experiment in his book with the interesting title "LSD and the American dream" as follows: "Huxley had wanted to test the effects of mescaline in the desert east of Los Angeles away from the comical cars and the smog. But when Osmond arrived he found Aldous too ill to travel. So he contented himself with giving the drug to Gerald and photographer George Huene, another friend of Aldous. The reactions couldn't have been more different. Huene's experience was similar to Aldous's, with the mescaline enhancing all of the aesthetic tendencies that had made him a photographer."

Above, George cites again his adored cubist painter Tchelitchev. They stay in contact and Tchelitchev shows his admiration for George in a letter he writes to him to California: “My Dear, Dear George,...There was one thing which preserved you and protected you from all taint, even in the dubious climate of fashion magazines - the love of perfection.. Then your love of simplicity - a rare quality - for only by aiming at the essence of things does one come upon that which is simple - the essential. And one must admit that you never thought of yourself - you always thought of your work. There was an extraordinary humility which in now way interfered with your work, but on the contrary aided you. So now I expect wonders from you...“

George died in 1968 of a stroke in his home in Los Angeles.

If you want to know more about George, I propose you the book of William A. Ewing “The photographic art of Hoyningen-Huene“ (foreword by George Cukor). It is also available in a affordable paper-back version, e.g. at http://www.amazon.com This article is mainly based on the information given there. Therefore, it ends with the words of Ewing:

“The key to Huene’s achievement lies in the consistency, intellectual complexity, and inter-relatedness of his ideas. In the final analysis his work must be considered as a coherent system of images, characterized by precision, economy of means, harmony, elegance, and psychological acuity. The best of his photographs require no captions. They call for no special interest on the part of the viewer in fashion per se, or, in the case of his portraits, in the identities of the sitters themselves. Creative excellence elevates subject matter. As in the best of art, form transcends function.

Here is what one readers says on the book (from the Amazon Website)

George Hoyningen-Huene was one of the most sought-after fashion photographers of the 20's and 30's. However, he was far more than just a hack. In fact, Hoyningen-Huene is regarded by many as the greatest master of photographic lighting who lived. Hoyningen-Huene worked before anything resembling contemporay flash photography came along. He worked in huge studios and used whatever lighting worked best, from huge theatrical spots to, on at least one occasion, an ordinary flashlight-and everything in between. If you've never seen his work, it's very easy to predict that you'll find many astonishing and stunning images in this book. As mentioned, what will most strike you is the lighting. However, there is something about the texture of these old black and whites that one seldom finds in contemporary work. Beyond fashion, Hoyningen-Huene was a master portraitist as well, and you'll find quite a few images of Hollywood stars and other celebrities here as well, he spent the last years of his career working in Hollywood. This book is a must for anyone interested in the History of Photography, photographic lighting, and photo portraiture. It's very easy to give this book the highest possible rating. The only wish one could possibly have after reading it is "Please, give me more!"

For German readers:
In Hamburg, there is currently the exposition “Mode - Körper - Mode“ held until 28th of January 2001 with participation of George’s photographs in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Steintorplatz 1, 20099 Hamburg, Tel. 040 - 2486 - 27 32; Fax 040 - 2486 - 28 34, täglich 10 - 18 Uhr außer Montag, Donnerstag bis 21 Uhr, E-mail: service@mkg-hamburg.de) (I have not had the chance to go there yet. If you manage to go there, I would be interested in your comments: Martin@vonHuene.net)

Copyright © 2001 Martin von Hoyningen-Huene