(b Essen, 17 March 1915; d East Hampton, NY, 13 Oct 1990). American photographer and film maker. He worked in France and Spain as a freelance photographer for Life, Vu and other magazines from 1935 to 1938, during which time he photographed the Spanish Civil War (1936–9). He settled in the USA in 1951 and studied under Alexey Brodovitch (1898–1971) at the New School for Social Research, New York. In the late 1940s he worked in Guatemala, where he later returned repeatedly, taking portraits of the inhabitants of the village of Todos Santos. In the 1950s he began taking photographic portraits of prominent American painters and sculptors. Much of Namuth’s career focused on recording the working techniques of the Abstract Expressionist painters, particularly Jackson Pollock, who was the subject of his first film in 1951. His own work was characterized by its calm intimacy, reflecting the influence of August Sander.