Peter Lindbergh, Legendary Fashion Photographer, Dies at 74
Peter Lindbergh, the renowned photographer whose work helped launch the era of '90s supermodels, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 74, his family confirmed in an official Instagram post this morning.
Lindbergh was behind the lens of some of fashion's most iconic imagery, from his signature black-and-white portraits of supers like Naomi, Kate, and Linda to the Pirelli Calendar. His vision redefined fashion photography as a whole, ushering in an era of natural beauty captured in raw portraits that highlighted women in a new light. During a time of airbrushing, he was known for his strong stance against retouching photos.
The photographer was behind some of the fashion world's most iconic images as well—from the '90s supers shot as angels to striking monochromatic portraits and cinematic imagery. His photographs of Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Kate Moss helped cement their status as icons.
Lindbergh was born in German-occupied Poland in 1944 and grew up in Duisburg, Germany. He studied art at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts and the Krefeld College of Art before opening his own photography studio in 1973. After moving to Paris to pursue fashion photography, his career of international acclaim soon began.
His works went on to be featured in magazines across the world from BAZAAR to Vogue and campaigns for fashion houses from Dior to Donna Karan. He was the only photographer to shoot the prestigious Pirelli Calendar three times—in 1996, 2002, and most recently in 2017. The prolific photographer's images were celebrated in the 2016 book, Peter Lindbergh: A Different Vision on Fashion Photography, and the recently published coffee-table book, Peter Lindbergh: Shadows on the Wall.
One of Lindbergh's final projects of note was photographing numerous women for British Vogue's September 2019 issue, which was guest edited by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Lindbergh shot 15 portraits that appeared on the cover, featuring Adwoa Aboah, Jacinda Ardern, Salma Hayek Pinault, Jane Fonda, and Yara Shahidi, among other standout women.
A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Jul 28, 2019 at 2:26pm PDT
The photographer is survived by his wife, Petra; his first wife, Astrid; his four sons, Benjamin, Jérémy, Simon, Joseph; and seven grandchildren.
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