Hans Namuth Hans Namuth ( March 17 , 1915 – October 13 , 1990 ) was a German - born photographer . Namuth specialized in portraiture , photographing many artists , including abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock . His photos of Pollock at work in his studio increased Pollock ' s fame and recognition and led to a greater understanding of his work and techniques . Namuth used his outgoing personality and persistence to photograph many important artistic figures at work in their studios . Namuth photographed many other painters such as Willem de Kooning , Robert Rauschenberg , and Mark Rothko and architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright , Philip Johnson , and Louis Kahn . Namuth focused on his rapport with his subjects , getting many reclusive figures such as Clyfford Still to agree to be photographed . Namuth ' s work not only captured his subjects in their studios with their works , but also captured the relationship between photographer and subject as well as the subjects ' levels of self - consciousness . Besides famous art figures , Namuth photographed the Mam people of Todos Santos , whose native lifestyles were being overrun by Western influences . Namuth died in a Long Island car crash in 1990 . Early life . Hans Namuth was born March 17 , 1915 in Essen , Germany . His interests in his youth were mainly politics and the arts . Namuth cites his mother as most responsible for encouraging his interest in music and the arts . As a teenager , Namuth became familiar with German expressionism and French impressionism through the Folkwang Museum . Namuth ' s father joined the Nazi Party in 1931 after becoming disillusioned due to an economic decline . This contrasted with the political views of his son , who found himself drawn to the liberal German Youth Movement . After Hans Namuth was arrested and briefly jailed for distributing anti - Nazi materials in July 1933 , Namuth ' s father intervened and arranged for him to be sent to Paris . During his time in Paris , Namuth took an assortment of jobs including newspaper boy , researcher , and dishwasher . Namuth befriended many German expatriates in Paris , including photographer Georg Reisner . In 1935 , Reisner invited Namuth to assist him with his studio in Port de Pollença , Spain , and introduced the 20 - year - old Namuth to photography . After several months , the two returned to Paris , supporting themselves with photojournalism and occasional portraits . Namuth and Reisner were sent to cover the Workers ' Olympiad in July 1936 by French magazine " Vu " , which put them in Barcelona during the opening stages of the Spanish Civil War . Over the next nine months , the two photographed the war , providing photos to European publications . Namuth and Reisner returned to Paris in 1937 and continued their careers as photographers until 1939 . While in Paris , Namuth studied with Joseph Breitenbach , who taught him the technical aspects of photography . After increased tension and hostilities between France and Germany , Namuth and his fellow German expatriates were interned , though Namuth joined the French Foreign Legion to avoid his confinement . After being discharged in 1940 , Namuth fled to Marseilles and escaped to the United States with the help of journalist Varian Fry and his Emergency Rescue Committee . He arrived in New York City in 1941 and planned to join the Office of Strategic Services in 1943 out of a desire " to do something about everything " . However , he had fallen in love with French - born Guatemalan Carmen Herrera and delayed his enlistment until he was drafted for World War II in December 1943 . After completing basic training , Namuth joined the intelligence services and worked as an interrogator and interpreter in England , France , and Czechoslovakia . Upon returning to Germany in 1945 to gather war criminals , Namuth realized , " I really had cut my navel cord completely and totally , not just with my home and family but with the country as such . I was completely out of it . " Namuth did not return to Germany until 1970 . With the conclusion of World War II , Namuth left the army , having been awarded the Purple Heart and Croix de Guerre . Namuth returned to New York determined to raise enough money for his family while keeping photography as a hobby . After working for a paper research company for about a year and a half , the company went bankrupt , leaving Namuth without a job . Namuth realized he had been " doing something that really was not my dish " , and decided to return full - time to photography . He set up his kitchen as a darkroom and began doing location work for architecture magazines , as he had been interested in architecture and design . Namuth was introduced to Alexey Brodovitch , a photographer , instructor , and art director of " Harper ' s Bazaar " . Namuth began taking Brodovitch ' s classes at The New School of Social Research , where he learned how to develop ideas and how to engage the concepts of his images from Brodovitch . He began working for " Harper ' s Bazaar " , doing fashion photography , and later children ' s fashion photography . Jackson Pollock . Hans Namuth was not initially interested in the work of Jackson Pollock , but was convinced by his teacher Alexey Brodovitch that Pollock was an important painter . In July 1950 , Namuth approached Pollock and asked to photograph the artist working in his studio . Pollock agreed , encouraged by his wife , Lee Krasner , who was aware of the importance of media coverage . The resulting images helped to demystify Pollock ' s famous " drip " technique of painting , revealing it to be a deliberative process rather than a random splashing of paint . They " helped transform Pollock from a talented , cranky loner into the first media - driven superstar of American contemporary art , the jeans - clad , chain - smoking poster boy of abstract expressionism , " according to acclaimed culture critic Ferdinand Protzman . Not satisfied with black and white stills , Namuth wanted to create a color film that managed to focus on Pollock and his painting at the same time , partially because he found more interest in Pollock ' s image than in his art . His solution was to have Pollock paint on a large sheet of glass as Namuth filmed from underneath the work . As Namuth could not afford professional lighting , the film was shot outside Pollock ' s Long Island home . This documentary ( co - produced with Paul Falkenberg ) is considered one of the most influential for artists . In November 1950 , Namuth and Pollock ' s relationship came to an abrupt conclusion . After coming in from the cold - weather shoot of the glass painting , Pollock , who had been treated in the 1930s for alcoholism , poured himself a tumbler of bourbon whiskey after supposedly having been sober for two years . An argument between Namuth and Pollock ensued with each calling the other a " phony " , culminating in Pollock overturning a table of food and dinnerware in front of several guests . From then on , Pollock reverted to a more figure - oriented style of painting , leading some to say that Namuth ' s sessions robbed Pollock of his rawness and made Pollock come to feel disingenuous about doing things for the camera that he had originally done spontaneously . Art critic Jonathan Jones suggests that by filming Pollock , Namuth " broke the myth of trance " and by framing Pollock ' s work in the larger surrounding landscape , destroyed Pollock ' s view that his paintings were boundless . Jeffrey Potter , a close friend of Pollock ' s , described Namuth as commanding , frequently telling Pollock when to start and stop painting . According to Potter , Pollock " felt what was happening was phony . " Namuth himself describes Pollock as being " very nervous and very self - conscious " of the filming at the time , but less so when Pollock discussed it in a later interview . During his time with Pollock , Hans Namuth had created two films and captured more than 500 photographs of the artist . These photos were first published in 1951 in " Portfolio " , a journal edited by Alexey Brodovitch and Franz Zachary . After the death of Pollock in 1956 , Namuth ' s photos grew in popularity and were often used in articles about the painter in place of Pollock ' s artwork itself . Art historian Barbara Rose states that the photographs changed art by focusing on the creation of art rather than the final product alone . Younger artists such as Bruce Nauman , Richard Serra , and Robert Morris were able not only to view Pollock ' s paintings , but , with Namuth ' s images , to see Pollock in the act of painting , giving rise to the popularity of Process Art . These photos have also allowed art historians to dissect the details of Pollock ' s method . For example , art historian Pepe Karmel found that Pollock ' s painting in Namuth ' s first black - and - white film began with several careful drippings forming two humanoid figures and a wolf before being covered beneath several layers of paint . Other artists . The popularity drawn from his work with Pollock helped Namuth gain access to other members of the abstract expressionist movement including Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko . During the construction of de Kooning ' s studio over the years , Namuth photographed its progress as well as de Kooning ' s paintings from this period . Namuth took an especially large number of photos of de Kooning ' s " Reclining Man " , possibly indicating the painting ' s importance to Namuth or de Kooning . Namuth photographed many architects including Frank Lloyd Wright , Walter Gropius , and Louis Kahn . Later work . Namuth and his wife had first visited Guatemala in 1946 out of interest in his wife ' s native land and Namuth photographed the native Mam people of Todos Santos . Namuth returned in 1978 to survey the damage of an earthquake and was shocked to find the native customs of the Mam threatened by influences such as alcoholism . Namuth published these black - and - white photos in his 1989 book , " Los Todos Santeros " , in an effort to catalog and preserve images of the town ' s population and customs . He began to work regularly for " Art News " in 1979 , producing 19 covers for the magazine over four years . Namuth died in 1990 in a Long Island automobile accident not far from where Pollock had similarly died in a car crash . The full archive of Namuth ' s work is located at the Center for Creative Photography ( CCP ) at the University of Arizona in Tucson , which also manages the copyright of his work . Subject interaction and technique . Namuth found that the rapport he developed with his subjects was integral to making them feel comfortable being photographed while working . While Namuth was known to be a technically skilled photographer , his sociable and outgoing personality contributed largely to his notability in the New York art scene . Namuth was also persistent when persuading his subjects to agree to be photographed , including sculptor Joseph Cornell , who took two years to be convinced . He generally managed to put his subject at ease well enough so that they could work naturally in their environments without any artificial stiffness . Largely because of this , self - conscious artists such as Clyfford Still and Saul Steinberg agreed to be subjects for Namuth ' s photography . However , critic Sarah Boxer suggests that it is difficult to view photos of such artists without considering the possibility that they were trying to gain fame in a manner similar to Pollock . Though Namuth developed personal relationships with many of his subjects , art critic Hilton Kramer describes Namuth as " something of a hero worshiper . " Namuth ' s photographs included objects related to his subjects , such as paint tubes , items from around their homes , and their works of art . His photos also captured his own interactions with subjects , showing how comfortable they were at the time of shooting . Some subjects , such as Frank Stella , seemed to be intoxicated with the idea of being photographed by Namuth , while others , including Mark Rothko and Robert Rauschenberg , ignored Namuth during their photo sessions . Other photographs exude tension between photographer and subject , as if Namuth were an unwelcome guest in their workspace , as in the cases of artists Louise Nevelson and Jasper Johns . Often , Namuth ' s subjects are uncomfortable in front of the camera , as were architects Eero Saarinen and Buckminster Fuller . Almost all of Namuth ' s images of male artists , with the notable exception of Pollock , appear to be taking contemplative or otherwise self - absorbed poses .