Patrick Demarchelier was one of only ten photographers to have shot two Pirelli calendars; he reinvented photographic portraiture of the British royal family and was name-dropped by the main character in the movie The Devil Wears Prada. The late Frenchman’s fame went far beyond his widespread recognition as one of the world’s top fashion and portrait photographers… he transcended photography.
Just over three years after his death, the book Patrick Demarchelier: Fashion Photographs Seen and Unseen showcases 50 years of his work, from 1970 through to 2020. It’s a substantial tome, that includes an in-depth essay on Demarchelier’s life by Brad Gooch, over 200 iconic images, interviews with models, fashion editors, stylists, make-up artists and celebrities who worked with him and galleries that reveal his enduring legacy in pictorial format.
Patrick Demarchelier’s photographic journey dated back to 1960 when, on his 17th birthday, he was gifted a Kodak camera by his stepfather. He taught himself photography near to his home in Le Havre and, aged 20, moved to Paris to carve out a career. He rapidly secured a job printing news photographs in a photo lab and offered his burgeoning photographic skills to modelling schools in the French capital.
In 1964, he began assisting the Swiss fashion photographer Hans Feurer (who shot the 1974 Pirelli calendar) and honed his considerable skills at lighting and composing images. Demarchelier would also assist the legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson and soon became part of the so-called ‘The French Connection’, alongside the likes of fellow lensmen Gilles Bensimon, Alex Chatelein and Arthur Elgort.
Move to New York
By the early 1970s he was being commissioned by French Elle and American Vogue. He then followed a girlfriend to New York in 1975 and was soon shooting top US models. By the 1980s he was working closely with British Vogue, but it was arguably the 1990s that cemented his place as a truly influential fashion photographer, mainly after he switched allegiance from Vogue to Harper’s Bazaar in 1992. Demarchelier’s 1990 shoot with Princess Diana provided an iconic, informal, portrait of the royal in a satin ballgown, while his unforgettable image of ten supermodels, dressed all in white, graced the cover of Vogue in 1992.
The charming Frenchman’s portfolio soon went way beyond fashion as his beautifully lit portrait shoots captured film stars, musicians and celebrities, such as Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Sting, Elton John and Bill and Hillary Clinton. In 2008, over 500,000 people visited a major Demarchelier retrospective at the Petit Palais in Paris. His death in March 2022 brought an end to his lifetime of creativity, but his creative baton had already been passed to one of his three sons, Victor, who is well known for his fashion, portrait and fine-art photography. To find out more, AP spoke to Victor Demarchelier…
Creative skills
Victor Demarchelier recalls, ‘I loved working in my father’s darkroom. I’d lose track of time and stay all hours of the night. I would practise printing his negatives and, eventually, I wondered how it would feel to print my own photos. When I started working with him on sets he was still shooting film. I think the sound of a shutter and the mechanical winding of film really seduced me. I was hooked.’
Patrick Demarchelier was known for the adroitness and inventive nature of his lighting setups alongside his innate ability to be equally comfortable with shooting in a studio or lighting, composing and photographing models on location. He embraced the use of 35mm, medium- and large-format cameras, easily swapping formats to meet the needs of his clients. Whether it was a Nikon F5, a Pentax 67 II, a Hasselblad 553 ELX or a Linhof 5x4in camera, in Patrick Demarchelier’s hands the cameras would purr.
His son, Victor, reveals, ‘He didn’t talk much about photography so, when he did, people would always hang on to his every word and try to get some insight. The amazing thing about Patrick is that it was all so effortless. I’m not sure what was going on in his head, but he made everything seem so easy. Everyone always felt so relaxed around him. He liked making people laugh, was a great storyteller and really enjoyed the company of people. He treated everyone the same… he could be on set with the most famous actor and have more interest in a conversation with a local fisherman. He would get most shots done within a few minutes. No matter what was thrown in front of him, he would always get an amazing photo.’
An eye for beauty
Victor Demarchelier’s short stint as a child model was to prove a pivotal moment in his father’s career. In 1989, Patrick Demarchelier was shooting the German model Vanessa Duve on the Caribbean island St. Barthélemy (where Patrick Demarchelier would later commission the build of a villa) when he decided to add his son into the pictures…
Victor Demarchelier explains, ‘I was only five or so. We were staying at the Taiwana Hotel in St. Barths. I was running around the hotel playing and lost track of where my father was. found him on the beach and he asked me to jump on the model’s lap. This ended up being the cover of British Vogue, August 1989. I’ve been told this is the first time a man ever appeared on the cover of Vogue! These photos were later noticed by Princess Diana, who then asked Patrick to be her photographer.’
Patrick Demarchelier was the first non-British photographer commissioned to photograph a member of the British royal family, with the iconic results heralding a new era of more informal portraits of the royals. Victor Demarchelier notes, ‘He had a great eye for beauty. He really knew how to make people look and feel beautiful. His photographs also have an edge to them. You can always recognise one of his photographs by how beautifully they are lit. He had an amazing range; from portraits to high fashion to beauty. He was a wizard with the camera and lighting. Sometimes he would have us run to the hardware store and build improvised lighting setups for him.’
Noting Victor Demarchelier’s clear admiration of his late father’s work, I ask if there is any single image of his father’s that he would have loved to have shot? He replies, ‘I think his most amazing image is the one of Stephanie Seymour hanging nude from a tamarind tree branch in St. Barths, with the ocean as a backdrop behind her… almost like a beautiful fruit. I love the drama of this photo. It is just a perfect image.’
Book project
With the passing of Patrick Demarchelier in 2022, plans were soon in place to celebrate his career with a book. Victor Demarchelier reveals, ‘We started working on the book about two years ago. We hadn’t done a book since the 2008 Petit Palais show in Paris. Patrick had created a lot of new work since then, which I wanted to showcase. I also wanted to feature interviews with some of his closest colleagues, and they all graciously agreed to participate. This helps give a little more insight into his work. He didn’t like to do interviews. I think, for the first time, people will get a look into his creative process.’
After about a year of gathering materials and conducting interviews, Victor Demarchelier reached out to his father’s friend, collaborator and favourite art director, Fabien Baron. Baron was the former creative director of Harper’s Bazaar magazine and Calvin Klein, who notably designed Madonna’s controversial book Sex, which was photographed by Steven Meisel. Victor Demarchelier explains, ‘They [Baron and Demarchelier] had worked together on many of Patrick’s favourite images throughout the years, including the book cover image of Christy Turlington with a mouse on her shoulder. He [Baron] immediately accepted the idea. I sent a wide edit to Fabien, including very old work from the 1970s and new work from the 2000s and 2010s. There were too many images to choose from and Fabien did a great job editing it down. Having Fabien on board was a huge blessing as he was very familiar with Patrick’s archive.’
Fifty-year journey
Victor Demarchelier didn’t rush the book project as he was keen to make sure its quality was up to his father’s high standards. He remarks, ‘Patrick has had one of the longest careers in the history of fashion photography, over 50 years! Although that gave us many options, retrieving some of these negatives and files proved to be very difficult at times. I didn’t want to be biased towards the later part of his career. I wanted the book to reflect on his entire 50-year journey.’
He continues, ‘I think Patrick’s evolution in fashion photography is unparalleled. Having the photos from five decades of fashion together in one book really shows his evolution and also the evolution of fashion photography. I viewed it as a history book. I think it’s the most insightful book ever published on Patrick. Brad Gooch’s essay at the opening of the book is the most comprehensive ever done on Patrick.’
When asked about how he views his father’s legacy, Victor Demarchelier replies, ‘I think he is one of the pillars of fashion photography. One of the last stars from a bygone era. A true fashion icon and legend in the field. He worked during the golden years of advertising and fashion magazines. The field is constantly evolving and I don’t think we’d be here today without his contributions and all the other photographers that stood before him.’
Patrick Demarchelier (1943-2022) was a world-famous French fashion and portrait photographer. He moved to Paris, aged 20, to further his career and then to New York in 1975. His work for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar placed him at the very top of the pantheon of fashion photographers. He also shot covers for Rolling Stone, LIFE, Elle, Newsweek and Mademoiselle and ad campaigns for the likes of Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Versace and L’Oréal. In 2007 he was honoured as an officer of the French Order of Arts and Literature. Demarchelier died, aged 78, at his home on the island of St. Barthélemy in March 2022.
Related reading:
- How Patrick Demarchelier Changed Fashion Photography
- Unseen Princess Diana photos published sons anniversary tribute
