1928-

William Klein grew up during the heart of the Depression in New York City. After serving in the U.S. Army for two years, Klein moved to Europe where he began his career as an artist using photography. William Klein set out to re-invent the photographic document. His photos, often blurred or out of focus, his high-contrast prints (his negatives were often severely over-exposed), his use of high-grain film and wide angles shocked the established order of the photography world and he earned a reputation as an anti-photographer's photographer. In 1965, he ventured from photography to a career in filmmaking. Klein returned to photography in the 1980s and continues to live and work in Paris today.