George Hoyningen-Huene

Hamiltons Gallery, London

Private Collection

Acquired from the above by the present owner

William Ewing, Eye for Elegance: George Hoyningen-Huene, New York 1980, p. 39, illustrated

William Ewing, The Photographic Art of Hoyningen-Huene, London 1986, cover, illustrated

Susanna Brown, George Hoyningen-Huene, Photography, Fashion, Film, London 2024, p. 75, illustrated

Considered as one of the most iconic fashion photographs from the 20th century, The Divers was selected by Anna Wintour among her five favourite Vogue images from the magazine's long history. While the symmetrical composition captured by Huene-Hoyningen is directly inspired by his passion for Greek classical sculpture, its minimal and abstract aesthetic is undeniably modern.

Born in St. Petersburg to Baltic German nobility, Hoyningen-Huene joined the whirlwind of the 1920s Parisian creative circles and gravitated around Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Coco Chanel. In 1930, he met Horst P Horst who would become his assistant and partner before turning into a star fashion photographer of his own right. Horst also featured in many of Hoyningen-Huene’s photographs from the period, including The Divers. Unlike the male model, the woman’s identity in the photograph was unknown for a long time until it was confirmed by Horst in an interview as Lee Miller. Miller’s biographer Carolyn Burke writes: ‘to those who know Lee’s neck, torso, and place in Hoyningen-Huene’s imagination as Horst’s “twin”, she is instantly recognisable.’

Lyrically posed and lit, the couple appears to be gazing towards the sea with their backs to the camera. Yet such a serene outdoor setting would have been nearly impossible to photograph at the time as portable cameras were in their infancy. This limitation didn’t stop Hoyningen-Huene from achieving his vision. What seems to be a diving board, upon which the couple is seated, is made up of props on the roof of Vogue’s studio in Paris. The hazy horizon line is in fact the top of the balustrade, separating the sitters from the buzzing avenue des Champs-Elysées. Hoyningen-Huene’s extraordinary ability to capture such an image revolutionised fashion photography and inspired new generations of photographers to take more natural photographs outside the studio.