Biography (Courtesy of Christian Peterson)
 
De Meyer’s birthplace (Paris or Germany), nationality, and some other biographical facts are uncertain, because he told different stories about his background throughout his life. Even his name changed; Adolph was sometimes Adolf, he became Baron de Meyer in about 1898, and he changed his first name to Gayne in 1916 (on the advice of an astrologer). Residing variously in Dresden, London, Paris, and New York, de Meyer led the life of a cosmopolitan aristocrat and aesthete. Most of his work is softly focused and refined, be it still lifes, fashion, dance, or portrait work.
 
De Meyer apparently spent his childhood in Paris and Germany. He began exhibiting creative photographs in 1894 in New York, London, and Paris and two years later moved to London from Dresden. Around 1896, he married Olga Caracciolo, the goddaughter of the Prince of Wales, Edward VII, which catapulted him into the British aristocracy. Two years later, he joined both the conservative Royal Photographic Society and the Linked Ring Brotherhood, a more artistically advanced group of photographers.
 
In 1903, de Meyer visited the United States and spent time in the studio of Gertrude Käsebier. In 1909, now a member of the Photo-Secession, he presented an exhibition of his Autochromes (color transparencies on glass) and monochromatic prints at the group’s Little Galleries, where he also had a solo show two years later. Alfred Stieglitz was so enthralled with his work that he presented it in Camera Work in 1908 and 1912, the latter comprising a full issue of fourteen photogravures.
 
In 1913, a year after he moved to New York, Vogue reproduced a sensitive image by de Meyer of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, which subsequently led Condé Nast to hire him as the magazine’s first full-time fashion photographer. De Meyer’s work over the next half dozen transformed the field, with graceful poses, elegant props, soft-focus effects, and contra-jour lighting. Then, in 1921, William Randolph Hearst lured him to Paris and Harper’s Bazaar. There, for the next decade, de Meyer was highly successful and visible as the magazine’s leading fashion writer, stylist, and photographer, even dabbling in interior decoration and clothing design.
 
De Meyer’s life changed significantly in the early 1930s, when his wife died and he lost his contract at Harper’s, prompting him to travel extensively, become chemically dependent, and experiment sexually. Threatened by the advance of the Nazis in the late 1930, de Meyer sold off his possessions in Paris, Vienna, and Venice, and resettled in Hollywood, where he wrote novels and other material, none of which was ever published. He died in Los Angeles on January 6, 1946, of coronary thrombosis.
 
Christian A. Peterson Pictorial Photography at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Christian A. Peterson: Privately printed, 2012)
 
This biography is courtesy and copyright of Christian Peterson and is included here with permission.
 
Date last updated: 1 June 2013.
 
Biography provided by Focal press
 
A pictorialist and member of the Linked Ring (1903). His photographs were exhibited by Stieglitz at 291. In 1911, the de Meyers promoted Diaghilev's Ballet Russe in their first London appearance and de Meyer made his famous photographs of Nijinsky. From 1914 to 1935 he lived in America where he became the top fashion photographer. Also known for his portraits of celebrities for Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar.
 
(Author: RH)
 
Michael Peres (Editor-in-Chief), 2007, Focal Encyclopedia of Photography, 4th edition, (Focal Press) [ISBN-10: 0240807405, ISBN-13: 978-0240807409] (Used with permission)
 
Approved biography
Courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum (London, UK)
 
Baron De Meyer is seen by many as the founder of fashion photography. In 1899 he married Olga Caracciolo, a professional beauty who introduced him to the highest levels of society. Once inside these glittering social circles, de Meyer was able to photograph many of the celebrities he met. His delicate, impressionistic idiom is characteristic of the photographic style most fashionable at the turn of the century. His images were published in Alfred Stieglitz's Camera Work in 1908, and he later worked for American Vogue and its rival magazine Harper's Bazaar.
 
This biography is courtesy and copyright of the Victoria & Albert Museum and is included here with permission.