Focus: The Secret, Sexy, Sometimes Sordid World of Fashion Photographers

by Michael Gross

“This thoroughly absorbing narrative dazzles with the most profound investigation and research. Focus is an enthralling and riveting read.” —Tim Gunn“Smart, well-researched…engaging…canny” (New York Times Book Review), Focus is a “fast-paced—and clearly insider—look at the rarefied, sexy world of fashion photography” (Lauren Weisberger, author of The Devil Wears Prada). New York Times bestselling author Michael Gross brings to life the wild genius, egos, passions, and antics of the men (and a few women) behind the camera, probing the lives, hang-ups, and artistic triumphs of more than a dozen of fashion photography’s greatest visionaries, including Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Bill King, Helmut Newton, Gilles Bensimon, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel, and Bob and Terry Richardson. Tracing the highs and lows of fashion photography from the late 1940s to today, Focus takes you behind the scenes to reveal the revolutionary creative processes and fraught private passions of these visionary magicians, “delving deep into the fascinating rivalries” (The Daily News) between photographers, fashion editors, and publishers like Condé Nast and Hearst. Weaving together candid interviews, never-before-told insider anecdotes and insights born of his three decades of front-row and backstage reporting on modern fashion, Focus is “simply unrivaled…a sensation….Gross is a modern-day Vasari, giving us The Lives of the Artists in no small measure” (CraveOnline).

Genres: Fashion, Photography, Nonfiction, History

417 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 5, 2016

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Michael Gross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote it so I shouldn't review it.

[Levi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this thinking it was a long shot that I would be really into it. I listened to the audiobook version, which may have been part of the issue I had with the book. That is not to say the reader was bad, just that listening to this may not be the best way to absorb it.

First, I have to admit I came to this book purely out of interest in photography. When I read that it included information on some really important photographers I thought it would be interesting to learn about their roles in the development of the fashion photography industry. I did learn more than a few things, such as the fact the movie Funny Face was based on real people, I.e. Loosely based on one particular photographer who's name I have presently forgotten.

I also learned that there are a lot of drugs and sexism and shitty behavior in fashion. Hell the book starts with the description of the terrible behavior of someone who was recently torn from his high perch in fashion photography, Terry Richardson, for being a bad person. But, this book talks a lot about everyone's vices. Which I suppose I should have expected from the secondary title for the book.

My biggest issue with the book is its structuring, or lack there of. I think it was trying to go chronologically to tell the story of fashion photography, but it did not pull that off. It all too often jumped from one year or several years apart to another several years apart and back again. It also seemed to be talking about key photographers during those periods, but just like with the chronology, it jumped back and forth from figure to figure to the point of becoming tedious.

The author also brought in so many individuals to talk about that it was hard to keep people straight, it also made it hard to understand the point of talking about those individuals.

Overall I think the book would have benefitted from much tighter editing to create a better structure to the story.

Maybe if I knew more about the fashion world and all the names involved it would have been easier to follow, but I'm not so sure that would have helped. I think it would have been much better if it had been cut down in length and focused on some of the key characters more without jumping around so much and bringing in every possible person involved with said individual.

[Eugenia Melian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well researched and written book.
Having worked as a fashion photographer's agent for over thirty years, I can confirm that a lot Gross's factual reporting is as accurate as can be.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting the backstories and insights to this world that few people know about.
My only critique is that I would have loved to read about more of the contemporary photographers and art directors that are very active now, working in the digital era and having transitioned from the analog one.
I really recommend this book for art, magazine and photography lovers.

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want juicy gossip about sex and drugs and bad relationships in the world of fashion photography--which is what the subtitle promises--this is the book for you; it will not disappoint, except for the lack of any photos of any of the layouts or ads which are described. But if you want anything more substantive or any examination at all of the aesthetics of fashion photography, you won't find it here.

[Jessica C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

During my research of Pauline Trigere I came across an article by Michael Gross on Ms.Trigere. Out of curiosity I picked up this book to read more works by Gross. Learned a lot of interesting facts about fashion photographers and many photographers I was not familiar with, although I have seen the photos from different fashion magazines.

[Soquel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative. I enjoyed learning the history of fashion photography but didn't like the graphic details.

[David Jin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Written in an unorganized format, read more like a tabloid at times.

[Sasha Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read just make sure to have a computer besides you to research all the people and image references.

[Ariadna73 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book describes several stages of the story of fashion photography. The key theme of the book is how decadent the industry is. As the photographers get more and more power, they start to make more and more demands on their wanna-be models that are more and more abusive. The easily imaginable sex, drugs & etc deals are all around the pages of this book with detailed descriptions of all the acts that these men and occasionally women want to be performed on them in order to keep their "creative juices" flowing. I must admit that I grew tired after a while, although I liked the few photographs the book contains.

This is the cover information of the book I read:


Here is the editorial information, and the dedicatory. Apparently, we owe the favor of this 2016 book to


Here is an initial phrase and a descriptive table of contents:


And finally, here you can see the photos in the book. Unfortunately, they did not include any photos of the actual scenes that they describe... neither the official shootings, nor the decadence






I am not really sure where I would read this book. It doesn't seem to be boring or interesting enough for a trip of any length, and my library or my couch don't look appealing enough either... If you want to take a look be by guest, but I can't seem to come up with a good place to be reading this.

Well, I hope you liked this little review. Did you know that I also have a blog? Take a look here: http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched book detailing fashion photography from it's beginnings in the early 20th century to it's current much weakened state, wounded by the rise of digital photography, digital post processing and apps/social media such as Instagram and Snapchat.

It's all here: the delicate egos, the brilliants artists wrecked by ambition and drugs, the constant battles between major fashion magazines to steal talent and perhaps worst of all, the careless and cruel way models were used and abused by misgynistic photographers.

There are plenty of primary sources and the author is careful to include where anecdotes and stories contradict each other, or different interviews provide different "facts".

It's a fascinating story and the author tells it well.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference, including interviews with key people in the business. Very useful, probably the best - only? - book on the history of the Fashion photographer profession.

Michael Gross writes with ease and authority on a subject he knows well. It's a great read, which I devoured quickly!

As a middle aged fashion and literature scholar it is both peculiar but also satisfying when my own cultural experiences become history. I remember the 90s! 80s even...

As a feminist I also cringe when I read about the fair share of sleazy photographers. I never worked in the fashion business, however as a woman living and moving through cities my entire adult life, of course I can testify that sexual harrassment / assaults are common.

Well, today models are activists too, and are hopefully able to stand up for themselves. And not all fashion photographers are creepes - I hope!

[Rebecca]

Interesting subject but it was just too dry for me. I got it from the library and thought about just trying to get through it a little at a time but eventually I gave up.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very well researched book. It reads more like a textbook because it is so heavy on history and facts. I had a hard time wading through it and gave up at about the halfway mark. It was not a light fun bio I thought the title suggested.