Patrick Demarchelier

Known internationally for his fluid, informal fashion shots, Patrick Demarchelier emerges in these pages as a master photographer whose images capture an often surprising and spontaneous vitality in even the most powerful icons of beauty and culture. Perhaps his best-known photographs are his portraits of Diana, taken with her sons, which helped to establish her as "the people's Princess." Yet the same light touch illuminates his images of subjects as diverse as giraffes in Tanzania, Johnny Depp, Egyptian pyramids, Patrick Ewing, sumo wrestlers, Cindy Crawford, and Versailles. Martin Harrison traces the course of Demarchelier's career from his late-sixties association with the young, inventive photographers of Paris through his discovery by Vogue - and coverage of Hollywood and art-world stars Robin Williams, Elton John, Winona Ryder, Francesco Clemente, Kenny Scharf - to his dramatic portraits of supermodels, which hold their own as surreal and playful narratives. The ninety-four photographs featured here include numerous color images whose controlled and refined palette demonstrate Demarchelier's continuing evolution as a colorist.