Rico Puhlmann (1934–96) was one of the most internationally renowned fashion photographers of his time, heavily influencing our image of fashion in his era.

Having started out as a successful child actor in films, Puhlmann got his first chance in the field of fashion magazines as an illustrator, before moving onto cover shoots and editorial work for the world’s biggest fashion periodicals, first in Berlin, and later in New York. A fatal plane crash put an abrupt end to his career. His photographs document some of the central themes in the industry across four decades of fashion history: trends like the legendary Berlin chic of the post-war years, or the New York sports- and streetwear of the ’70s and the changes in dress codes that went along with it, the evolution of modelling as a career, constantly shifting images of femininity and masculinity, the spread of beauty ideals that did not represent diversity, as well as protagonists and prevailing selection mechanisms when it came to choosing pictures for major magazines, ensuring they would enter the collective consciousness.

A special exhibition of the the Kunstbibliothek – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin