After Willy Rizzo in 2010, Karl Lagerfeld is the Guest of Honor for this year’s Paris Photo Salon. Both as photographer, exposing 30 black and white portraits of fashion, music and movie stars, and as curator, presenting a seleciont of thirty prints from the Maison Européenne de la Photographie archives.

Thirty portraits by Richard Avedon, Jeanloup Sieff, Helmut Newton, Alice Springs, Irving Penn, Robert Mapplethorpe, Allen Ginsberg, Gisèle Freund, Robert Doisneau, René Burri, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edouard Boubat, François-Marie Banier and David Bailey. In a recent interview for the Salon, he described his work process and his choice of black and white. “Black and white are emblematic of my style, a modern vision. Working in black and white is demanding, yet fascinating. When I take portraits or silhouettes, for the Pirelli Calendar for instance, this method emphasizes the body’s beauty, with special lighting, resulting in a very special three dimensional perspective”.

When asked about role models, he responds without hesitation: “Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Clarence Hudson White, and 1920’s German photography. Painting, film, and architecture inspire me as well. Photography is a part of my life. I can’t imagine life without this vision. I see the world and fashion through a camera’s eye. It gives my work the critical detachment that helps me more than I would have ever imagined.”

Bernard Perrine
Bernard.Perrine1@orange.fr