Emmy Andriesse: Hidden Lens

Emmy Andriesse (1914 – 1953) is one of the most important 20th Century women photographers, best known for her unforgettable portrayal of Amsterdam’s Hunger Winter of 1944-1945, now emblematic of civilian suffering during the Second World War. Andriesse was born into a liberal Dutch Jewish family. She was trained at the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague under the aegis of Gerrit Kiljan and Paul Schuitema, who pioneered the ‘New Photography’, based on Bauhaus principles – as well as encouraging students to experiment with its role as a documentary medium. Her rigorous yet sensitive approach enabled her to produce images of unusual poetic power, whilst her versatile fashion, documentary, portrait and landscape photographs reveal her curiosity about her fellow human beings and sense of beauty in the world around her.

Louise Baring has contributed to The Economist, Vogue, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent on Sunday. She is the author of the acclaimed books Martine Franck (2007) and Norman Parkinson: A Very British Glamour (2009).