Celebrity photography in the 1950's was in transition from the glamorous studio portraits of the 1920's through the 1940's. Attractive new faces and figures were to be found in Life and Look as well as the European magazines such as Stern and Paris -Match. Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda, Grace Kelly and Catherine Deneuve, all were photographed by Peter Basch in the new style. Peter Basch was born in Germany, the son of Austrian parents famous in the German film industry. He was educated in England and in Los Angeles when his parents came to America in the 1930's. Through his parents he made contact with the great names in film, worked for G.W. Pabst in France and became the assistant of the great portrait photographer Laszlo Willinger, who proved to be the the perfect mentor. In 1945 Basch moved to New York to start out on his own, and with his training and background soon became one of the foremost magazine photographers. He now lives and works in New York.

Eva Marie Saint

Grace Kelly

Elizabeth Taylor