He was awarded the Prix Nadar, the Royal Photographic Society’s Medal of the Century and Honorary Fellowship and the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award at the Sony World Photography Awards in 2012.
Klein’s upheaval of the contemporary art scene made lasting ripples, influencing artists and photographers in a pervasive way. In 2012, the Tate Modern focused on the influence Klein had over other artists in a unique joint exhibition highlighting the work of Klein and Japanese photographer Daido Moryama, one of the most celebrated photographers of the Japanese Provoke movement in the 1960s. The exhibition considered the relationship between the style and work of the two artists. Klein’s explosive photos served as a powerful inspiration to Moriyama, particularly the photos in New York.
“I was so touched and provoked by Klein’s photo book, that I spent all my time on the streets of Shinjuku [one of Tokyo’s neighborhoods], mixing myself in with the noise and the crowds, doing nothing except clicking, with abandon, the shutter of the camera,” Moriyama said.
In 2013, 60 years since publishing the groundbreaking book, Life is Good and Good for you in New York was published, Klein returned to New York City to shoot Brooklyn. This time, however, his challenge was to shoot in digital. Working days and nights, Klein documented the streets of the ever-popular borough for his newest photo book, Brooklyn. It was recently celebrated at the Polka Galerie in Paris with an exhibit that covered every inch of the gallery walls with his Brooklyn images.
William Klein’s film-making and avant-garde photography introduced an entirely new photographic style as well as a new perspective on city life and fashion photography. Klein infused energy into contemporary photography and—at 88 years old—it seems he isn’t done yet.

William Klein: Avant-garde New York Photographer

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