Author(s): Inge Feltrinelli

Photography

I grew up in the after-war period, hungry to see the world. That is why I moved from Gottingen to Hamburg in 1950. I learnt the basics of photography, and as I was quite smart-looking, I could earn a little bit of money working as a model. When I drove my bike through Poseldorf, a fancy white car stopped right next to me. The driver pointed at my camera and asked whether I was a photographer. It was Hans Huffzky, the founder of the womens magazine Constanze. When he saw my photographs, he said: Awful! What a catastrophe! Stop taking pictures of ships in the harbour. You have to photograph people. Huffzky became my Professor Higgins and introduced me to the publishers Rudolf Augstein and Axel Springer. Both were still on their way up and very easy-going. At those times, it was easy to reach for the stars and conquer the world. Inge Feltrinelli In addition to her photographic skill and her beautiful appearance, it was Inge Feltrinelli's talent to be at the right place at the right time that opened doors for her. She shot the rich, the intelligent and the famous figures of her time. All photographs are witness to the candid, amicable relationship with her models.
Marc Chagall pulled a pleasant face for her, Simone de Beauvoir looked happy, and Gary Cooper continued to get drunk while letting Inge do her job. In one of her most famous photographs, we see the beautiful young artist herself along with Ernest Hemingway, holding a giant swordfish. Inge Feltrinelli (born Schonthal in 1930) began her career photographing for magazines such as Constanze, Paris Match and Life. After her wedding in 1960 she followed her husband Giangiacomo Feltrinelli to Milan. From 1969 she was the vice president of Feltrinelli Publishers and overtook the leadership after her husband died in 1972. Inge Feltrinelli received various international awards, the most recent being the Medaille Charlemagne pour les Medias Europeens in 2011.