Gisèle Freund was a renowned photographer & photo journalist who fled Nazi Germany and settled in Paris in 1933. she studied at the Sorbonne, worked around the world for Time and Life magazines and took the first colour portraits of numerous writers and artists including Simone de Beauvoir, Virginia Woolf, Matisse, Man Ray and many others – all of which you can see here.
in 1950 she made her way to Mexico for an intended 2-week trip, but only left 2 years later (i’m not sure why! i’m going to have to buy the book). there she befriended an ailing Frida Kahlo, who she photographed in the last years of her life. a new book containing these photos, the one i just mentioned, was released this month (a previous edition was available in French, i can just assume it did not contain as many photographs?) damn, Frida was one bad-ass woman and i just LOVE her.
These powerful photographs, among the last taken before Kahlo’s death, bear poignant witness to Frida’s beauty and talent. Showcasing more than 100 of these rare images, many of which have never been published before, the book also includes previously unpublished commentary by Gisèle Freund about Frida Kahlo.
buy Frida Kahlo: The Gisèle Freund Photographs and see a few more images at The Cut.
wow wow wow. thank you for sharing these images. that white dress!
I’ve been an admirer of Frida since I was 12 years old and first heard about her in one of my art classes. This book is such a gem. Just when I think I could’t adore her more, something like this is released…
Am I the only one who thinks she looks like Beyoncé on some pictures?
I thought the same thing! And I thought I was imagining it!
Amazing photos – thank you so much for sharing, I adore Frida and any new photos I can find of her make me very happy haha!
She’s a wonderful artist. Very interesting life she had. But as far as looking like Beyoncé, there is a slight similarity but Beyoncé has a more pronounced mustache and she works hard to keep the unibrow under control!