Patrick Demarchelier, the photographer known for his iconic portraits of Princess Diana and ’90s supermodels, died on Thursday at age 78.
His death was announced on his official Instagram account alongside three self-portraits of the artist with the caption, “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Patrick Demarchelier on March 31st 2022, at the age of 78. He is survived by his wife Mia, his three sons Gustaf, Arthur, Victor and three grandchildren.” Demarchelier’s work was a staple of both Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar for three decades, and he became the first non-British person to ever take an official royal photograph with his portrait of Princess Diana.
The photographer, who was born in 1943, grew up in Le Havre, France. He began his career in Paris with no formal training before becoming an assistant to Vogue photographer Hans Feurer which first put him in contact with the fashion magazine he would eventually become synonymous with. After moving to New York in 1975, Demarchelier helped give rise to the birth of the supermodel, recommending Kate Moss to Calvin Klein and capturing ten of the biggest faces in modeling of the era for Vogue‘s 100th anniversary cover. Madonna was also drawn to his fresh aesthetic, enlisting him to shoot the art for her “Justify My Love” single, and he’s also the man behind the heavily-referenced Rolling Stone cover starring Janet Jackson with the hands of an unidentified man holding her breasts.
In 2007, Demarchelier was names an officier dans l’ordre des arts et des lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, the same year he also received the CFDA Founder’s Award. But despite these many accolades, in 2018, the photographer was one of many who were accused of sexual harassment amid the #MeToo movement. Demarchelier denied all of the allegations at the time, but in response to the accusations, Condé Nast announced, “We have informed Patrick we will not be working with him for the foreseeable future.”
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