Profile of Terry Richardson
April 21, 2012
By Eric Amlesu
Terry Richardson is an international celebrity, as well as one of the most prolific and compelling photographers of his generation. He’s known for his ability to cut to the raw essence of whoever appears on his set. Richardson’s pictures are at once funny, tragic, often beautiful, and always provocative.
He was born in New York City and raised in Hollywood. Richardson began photographing his environment while attending Hollywood High School and playing in a punk rock band.
He hasn’t stopped shooting since. Richardson has worked on campaigns for such clients as Gucci, Sisley, Miu Miu, Chloe, and his editorial work has appeared in magazines such as French Vogue, British Vogue, i-D, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar and Purple.
He has worked with many celebrities; his impressive list of subjects includes Daniel Day Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Vincent Gallo, Tom Ford, Jay Z, Kanye West, Johnny Knoxville, Karl Lagerfeld, Pharell Williams and many, many others.
Richardson’s work has been the subject of numerous group- and one-man shows throughout the world. He has also published a series of books, beginning with Hysteric Glamour in 1998, and stretching through his career until his most recent work, a retrospective from Taschen, entitled Terryworld 25th Anniversary Edition.
Richardson’s work spans a variety of media: he has shot music videos and commercials and is currently working on his first feature film. Whatever the medium, Richardson continues to prove that he is a true American Original.
Richardson has been repeatedly accused of sexual abuse throughout the past decade, but one of the most relevant cases was reported from a young college girl, a freshman, and published on the gloss.com website. It describes disturbing behavior on Richardson’s part, up to the point where he asks her for a sexual performance.
In the end, Terry Richardson is a phenomenal photographer, but along with his talent, there seems to be several behavioral problems and issues. These might compromise him in terms of social relations, but apparently they do not affect the quality of his work.
