This is the first comprehensive catalog on the work of the legendary fashion photographer couple, presenting their famous works for "Vogue" and "Harper's Bazaar," as well as many previously unpublished photographs.

This publication accompanies the first museum exhibition showing the work of Lillian Bassman and Paul Himmel in dialogue. Starting at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany, the exhibition is intended to tour in the United States in 2010.

Bassman and Himmel are enjoying a resurgence with exhibitions, including in the galleries of Howard Greenberg, James Danzinger, and Staley Wise, New York; and at the Palais du Tokyo, Paris.

Lillian Bassman was married to Paul Himmel in 1935. From the 1940s, Bassman was at the cutting edge of fashion, working as both fashion photographer and art director for "Harper's Bazaar." At "Junior Bazaar" she worked with young photographers such as Richard Avedon, Robert Frank, and Arnold Newman. Studying at the New School under Alexey Brodovitch, Bassman started shooting pictures herself. She soon was in constant demand and shot campaigns for Chanel and Balenciaga. Her work in black and white brought a sophisticated new aesthetic to print photography. Today she is experimenting with digital technology and abstract color photography.

Paul Himmel (1914-2009) was one of the few photographers working for both "Vogue" and "Harper's Bazaar," but in the 1950s he was becoming increasingly disillusioned with commercial photography and started his own projects, poetic and graphically powerful series on boxers, the circus, and ballet. His pictures became well known through Edward Steichen's important exhibition "The Family of Man."