The classic of world photojournalism Werner Bokelberg and his John Player Special Calendar

German photojournalist Werner Bokelberg is rightfully considered one of the classics of world photography. The peak of his creativity came in the 60-70s, when the master created many portraits of celebrities and simply atmospheric works. The John Player Special Calendar, created by Bokelberg, would have been no less popular at one time than the famous Pirelli. The black-and-white pictures of famous models taken from the back were elegant and very unusual.

Werner Bokelberg was born in Bremen, Germany, in 1937. His childhood and youth fell during the difficult war and post-war years, when life was difficult for the Germans. Nevertheless, Bokelberg dreamed of becoming an actor and saw himself as successful and famous. But it so happened that young Werner got acquainted with the camera and the dream of a movie was immediately abandoned.

Bokelberger was completely taken over by a new hobby. He photographed so greedily that it seemed that he was trying to capture everything. From his almost manic diligence, real skill was soon born, which was very quickly appreciated. In the 60s, Werner Bokelberg created many editorial and advertising images that were included in the golden fund of world photography.

He shot Salvador Dali, Romy Schneider, Picasso and other iconic personalities. Bokelberg also worked a lot with models, taking pictures for glossies and calendars.

John Player Special Calendar with pictures of girls from the back is considered the best calendar in the history of the genre. At the same time, the photographer took only black-and-white pictures and had his own special point of view on beauty:

Interestingly, the author of hundreds of brilliant pictures did not rate his work too highly. Bokelberg believed that only five pictures, including portraits of Dali and Picasso, would go down in history. But he was wrong, and descendants highly appreciate his legacy, ranking the photographer among the immortal classics.