American photographer William Klein, who established himself in fashion photography and urban photography, died Saturday evening in Paris at the age of 96, his son Pierre Klein announced in a statement on Monday.
Died “peacefully”, William Klein revolutionized photography with his punchy images that conveyed the feverishness and violence of cities, during a long career also devoted to fashion and cinema.
"In accordance with his wishes, the funeral will take place in the strictest privacy," said his son, indicating that a public tribute would be paid to him later.
According to Polka magazine, William Klein had “suffered” for “a few years” from health problems “related to old age”.
The newspaper describes a man who, in recent months, could be "tired, worn, crippled with pain, stuck in an armchair", but "present in his own way, always there while seeming elsewhere, murmuring more or less audible remarks". .
Born on April 19, 1926 in New York into an Orthodox Jewish family, the young American had discovered Europe while doing his military service.
Demobilized in Paris in 1946, William Klein then devoted himself to painting.
He lived in France since his meeting with his future wife Jeanne Florin, with whom he shared his life until his death in 2005.