Patrick Demarchelier
photographer
(1943-2022)
Born: Le Havre, France
“When people ask me which is your favourite portrait, they expect it to be Diana, or someone famous. But the answer is my dog, Puffy. They think I mean Puff Daddy. No, it is the dog.”
– Patrick Demarchelier
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Biography
Patrick Demarchelier, born in 1943 and raised in a small town near Paris, is one of the world’s leading fashion photographers. He has photographed the campaigns and covers for many high-ranking fashion house and publications. From the age of seventeen, he developed a fondness for photography when his step father gifted him a camera, thus he started taking pictures of weddings and friends. During this time he learned the way to retouch negatives and develop film. When he was twenty years old, he left for Paris and started to work for a photography laboratory. His job was to print photographs for newspapers.
He first worked with a photographer who made covers for a film magazine; later he became an assistant to a photographer, Hans Feurer, who worked for Vogue. He has learned from experience and according to him, from his mistakes, hence he keeps practicing like an athlete and keeps taking pictures. He has no formal qualifications. He also worked with Grace Coddington and during her term at the British Vogue, Demarchelier attributed her in helping him to commence his career.
photographer lives with Mia, his wife and a former model and with their children.
Having won the reputation of an esteemed fashion photographer, in 1975, Patrick Dermarchelier worked Terry King, Jacques Guilbert and Henri Cartier-Bresson, as a freelance photographer. Seeing his work, 20 Ans Magazine, Marie Claire and Elle also began noticing him.
Patrick Demarchelier became Princess of Wales, Diana’s personal photographer. He was the first non-British photographer hired by the Royal family. Diana had contacted him after witnessing his photographs on Vogue’s cover.
He not only has worked for Vogue, but also for Harper’s Bazaar as well in 1992. In addition, he has done international ad campaigns for Lacoste, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, TAG Heuer, Celine, Louis Vuitton, Dior, GAP, L’Oréal, Revlon, Lancôme, Gianfranco Ferré, Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Arden, Farrah Fawcetts shampoo and Talisa Soto.
Demarchelier has shot covers for almost all key fashion magazines, such as Life, Newsweek, Elle, Mademoiselle and Rolling Stone. He was the photographer for a beauty and lifestyle guide, On Your Own, written for young females by Brooke Shields.
In the years 2005 and 2008, he signed a contract with Pirelli Calendar, which is in the market since 1964.
In 2007, he was privileged with the Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters (translated to English) by the French minister of culture, Christine Albanel. In 2008, his work was displayed in an exhibition at Paris’s Petit Palais, titled The Cult of Celebrity.
Then in 2011, Demarchelier produced a book, Dior Couture Patrick Demarchelier, a collection of photos of couture by Dior. Pieces from the primary collection by Dior in 1947 and also those from Galliano’s term at the fashion house.
In the Telegraph in 2012, He told the audience that his favorite subject to take photographs of is not Princess Diana or some celebrity but his dog, Puffy.
Patrick Demarchelier did a guest appearance Sex and the City’s film. He was featured in season15 of Amecrica’s Next Top Model. Additionally, he was nominated for the 50 best dressed people over the age of 50, in March 2013 by the Guardian.
Source: www.famousphotographers.net