Bob Richardson

by Terry Richardson (Editor), Bob Richardson (Photographer)

Fashion photographer Bob Richardson (1928-2005) first began to publish his powerful, transgressive and emotionally charged black-and-white images in the high-fashion press of the 1960s, highlighting the new freedoms and attendant disillusions of the era in a distinctive, maverick style that matched his own edgy way of life. According to Cathy Horyn of The New York Times , ""Mr. Richardson's pictures were radical because, more than showing youthful fashion in a liberated way, they sought to expose the life dramas that were then consuming young people."" They were dark and conflicted, abject and suggestive, fleeting, broken, knowing and yearning. Always a cult photographer (and widely credited with influencing such peers as Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel and Bruce Weber), Richardson was also plagued by schizophrenia, and he lived hard-experimenting freely with sex and drugs throughout a life of extreme highs and lows. For example, he is perhaps most famous for the profoundly compelling portraits he made of his then-partner and muse Angelica Houston in the 1970s, while the 1980s found him homeless and living on the streets of Los Angeles. This highly-anticipated, beautifully-produced volume is the first ever dedicated to Richardson's oeuvre. Put together by his son, the equally renowned photographer Terry Richardson, it collects what remains of the original work, much of which was destroyed over the course of Richardson's unpredictable career.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Richardson has shot campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Aldo, Supreme, Tom Ford, and Yves Saint Laurent among others. He has also done magazine editorials for publications such as Rolling Stone, GQ, Vogue, Vanity Fair, i-D, and Vice.
There are several repeating themes in Richardson's work, notably that of putting high-profile celebrities in mundane situations and photographing them using traditionally pedestrian methods, such as the use of an instant camera.
His work also explores ideas of sexuality, with many of the pieces featured in his books Kibosh and Terryworld depicting full-frontal nudity and both simulated and unsimulated sexual acts.
Initially, many of Richardson's subjects would be shot before a white background but he eventually expanded to other backdrops. He is also well known for posing with his subjects, often trading his trademark glasses with them so they may "pretend to be him" and vice versa.

Reviews

[AAR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personalities aside, beautiful book of photographs by an underrated artist.

[James Powers]

Cousins of mine. Sad, fucked up people (and in the case of Terry a giant POS), but a great book.