Photographers Research

Steven Meisel is an American photographer born in 1954. He is well known for his photography in the U.S. and in Italian Vogue. He is innovative and talented in depicting imagery. His interest in beauty began at a young age as he often drew women. Art and design was always relevant in his studies; he majored in fashion illustration. Meisel discovered and promoted many models, escalating successful careers of many. Many people do not know him personally because he is reserved, however his photographs speak for him.

http://www.artandcommerce.com/AAC/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=AACAC3_63_VForm&FRM=Frame:AACAC3_62&XXAPXX=

http://www.vogue.it/en/encyclo/photography/m/steven-meisel

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Richard Avedon was born on May 15, 1923 to a Russian-Jewish family. He attended high school but never completed his education. After he dropped out of school he joined the merchant marine's photographic section and took identification photos and photos of shipwrecks. He made his way through the photography industry through small jobs. He became well known for his innovative fashion work and portraits, juggling commercial photography and fine art. He brought fashion models to life and "injected a previously unseen vibrancy into the medium of fashion photography." He was a trendsetter and one of the forefathers of fashion photography.

http://www.richardavedon.com/

http://www.designboom.com/history/avedon.html

http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/richard-avedon-biography

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Mario Testino was born in 1954 in Lima, Peru. He went to London and sold portfolios to people who desired to model. He is known for his exotically bright and couture photographs shot in a beautiful and well-thought manner. He has worked with many different magazines and campaigns. He is inspired by photographs that are taken in the moment, "like no effort was put into it." Before shooting his models, he believes that he wants to enjoy working with the person and not treating him or her as a regular model.

http://www.mariotestino.com/

http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/mario-testino-biography

http://articles.cnn.com/2007-02-07/entertainment/revealed.testino.qanda_1_photography-cnn-mario-testino?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ

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David LaChapelle's photography career began in the 1980’s in New York City galleries. After attending the North Carolina School of Arts, he moved to New York where he enrolled at both the Art Students League and the School of Visual Arts. His work caught the eye of his hero Andy Warhol and the editors of Interview Magazine, who offered him his first professional photography job. LaChapelle quickly began photographing some of the most famous faces of the times. Before long, he was shooting for the top editorial publications of the world, and creating the most memorable advertising campaigns of a generation. His striking images have appeared on and in between the covers of magazines such as Italian Vogue, French Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Rolling Stone and i-D. In his twenty-year career in publishing, he has photographed personalities as diverse as Tupac Shakur, Madonna, Amanda Lepore, Eminem, Philip Johnson, Lance Armstrong, Pamela Anderson, Lil’ Kim, Uma Thurman, Elizabeth Taylor, David Beckham, Paris Hilton, Jeff Koons, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hillary Clinton, Muhammad Ali, and Britney Spears, to name just a small selection. 

After establishing himself as a fixture amongst contemporary photography, LaChapelle expanded his work to include direction of music videos, live theatrical events, and documentary film. His directing credits include music videos for artists such as Christina Aguilera, Moby, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, The Vines and No Doubt.

http://www.davidlachapelle.com/

http://www.lachapellestudio.com/

http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/lachapelle.html

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Irving Penn is one of the forefathers of fashion photography. He is an American photographer noted for his sophisticated fashion images and incisive portraits. Penn, the brother of the motion-picture director Arthur Penn, initially intended to become a painter, but at age 26 he took a job designing photographic covers for the fashion magazine Vogue. He began photographing his own ideas for covers and soon established himself as a fashion photographer. In 1950 he married model Lisa Fonssagrives, whom he photographed for much of his best work. His austere fashion images communicated elegance and luxury through compositional refinement and clarity of line rather than through the use of elaborate props and backdrops. Penn also became an influential portraitist. He photographed a large number of celebrities, engaging each subject to sit for hours and to reveal his or her personality to the camera. In his portraits the subject is usually posed before a bare backdrop and photographed in natural northern light. The resulting images combine simplicity and directness with great formal sophistication.

http://www.biography.com/people/irving-penn-40637

http://www.photo-seminars.com/Fame/irving_penn.htm

http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/penn_irving.php

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Tim Walker is a British photographer whose work has been seen on the covers of Vogue month by month for over a decade. Extravagant staging and romantic motifs characterise his style. After concentrating on the photographic still for 15 years, Tim Walker is now making film. On graduation in 1994 Walker worked as a freelance photography assistant in London before moving to New York City as a full time assistant to Richard Avedon. On returning to England he initially concentrated on portrait and documentary work for UK newspapers. At the age of 25 he shot his first fashion story for Vogue, and has photographed for the British, Italian, and American editions ever since.

http://www.timwalkerphotography.com/

http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/tim-walker-biography
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Ellen Von Unwerth originally started out in the fashion world as a model. Although she had a successful career ahead of her, the German model decides to take her place on the other side of the camera. In the summer of 1991, she is taken on by Guess for their very first ad campaign. A soaring increase in sales at Guess can be credited to Von Unwerth’s daring, provocative style, and sees the real launch of her career. Vanity Fair, Vogue and a number of other fashion magazines are more than ready to take on the young photographer, givinhg her prestigious cover shots, and she even goes on to win the International Fashion Photo award.

http://www.ellenvonunwerth.com/

http://www.myfdb.com/people/1678-ellen-von-unwerth

http://uk.ykone.com/photographers/bio/ellen-von-unwerth