Neue
Frau – the life and death of Yva
by Michelle Hatcher
Hers is a name which might not be very familiar to you, yet her work stands out as perhaps being the most enigmatic and innovative in photographic history in the 20th Century. She was only 42 when she died in Auschwitz concentration camp.
If we talk about the photographer, Helmut Newton, on the other hand, then a sparkle of familiarity will appear on the faces of many a photography fan. Yet it was through her guidance and direction, that Newton was able to express a talent which become noted throughout the artistic world. Yva was born Elsa Neuländer-Simon and used the name, Yva, to identify her outstanding work.
Born to comfortable Jewish parents in Germany, she was allowed to enjoy an element of freedom as a young woman, when choosing a career for herself. In 1925, she opened a studio in Berlin, and employed staff and artists where each were allowed to express and explore themes of fashion, nudity and artistic direction, which had up until then, been left to the darkroom floor. Yva, even as ayoung woman of 25, was working at the forefront of photography and her work was found in the most notable glossy fashion publications of that time in Germany.
The future was free and bright for this woman photographer