The World of Fashion Loses One of its Most Emblematic Photographers: Patrick Demarchelier
To commemorate his career, L'Officiel reviews the work of the photography legend.
Thanks to a gift from his stepfather – a Kodak Eastman camera and a long roll of photographic film, it was on his 17th birthday that a young Patrick Demarchelier discovered his passion for the art of photography – an obsession he instantly visualized in shades of black and white. From a photo lab to working with a prestigious fashion magazine, the city of lights became the place that saw the boy from Le Havre grow up and find his own formula for painting with light.
His images were seen first in France, then Italy, Germany, and then the rest of the world when Alexander Liberman called him to work for the industry's best-known fashion publisher. And so, the young man who grew up admiring the work of Irving Penn, Richard Avedon and Frank Horvat made his work a benchmark that adds, without a doubt, to that list of photography icons.
A frozen instant that tries to reveal the purest essence, the creative described his work as a quick moment with a goal in an unsuspecting moment. His vision transformed that fleetingness into an eternity. It is only necessary to remember the emblematic photographs of a princess wearing simplicity and an indescribably honest smile as the most powerful beauty. Because yes, it was through Demarchelier's lens that the world was able to see the most intimate and charming side of "The People's Princess", the incomparable Diana of Wales.
Even so, with a history of almost 50 years, countless faces starred in the images signed by the creator. From celebrity portraits like Leonardo DiCaprio or Madonna, supermodels like Kate Moss or Karlie Kloss, athletes like Usain Bolt and Stephen Curry, to memorable collections like his book Dior Couture Patrick Demarchelier, which features the House's Haute Couture reviving The New Look from 1947 and the Galliano era; to his travel memoirs exploring wildlife in Africa: his work portrayed an infinite world of hues with only black and white.
To commemorate his career, we review the work of the photography legend who has passed away at the age of 78.
