Patrick Demarchelier
(1944 - )
Patrick Demarchelier was born in a small village near Paris, France in 1944. He was third among five children. At the age of seven his stepfather gave him a Kodak camera and since then Demarchelier began to consider a career in reportage or portraiture. At the age of nineteen, Demarchelier landed his first steady
He was hired by a modeling-agency school where he photographed the models and produced portfolios for them. After a year Demarchelier landed another assisting job, this time with the masterful Swiss fashion photographer Hans Feurer. He also worked for Elle, in the children's department, and began working for Marie Claire a French fashion magazine, and some German and Italian magazines as well as shooting for small advertising accounts. At the age of twenty-five Demarchelier was a well known photographer in Paris but was still unknown in America.
In 1975, Demarchelier traveled to fashion's Mecca; New York City. He arrived in Manhattan with a stunning portfolio of fashion pages from Elle and Mari Claire. He rented a small studio-apartment in Carnegie Hall and began looking for job opportunities during the day and attended night school to study English. His first photographs were taken for Jeff Rafalaf, graphics director at Clairol. In 1979, Demarchelier's work caught the eye of Conde Nast's director Alexander Liberman. Since then, he has shot regularly for Vogue, as well as for other Conde Nast Publlications such as Mademoiselle, Glamour, Rolling Stones, British and French Vogue and GQ. He has also photographed celebrities including Kim Basinger, Brooks Shield, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Douglas, Cindy Crawford and Dustin Hoffman. Demarchelier has shot covers for Life and Newsweek and toured the world from Montana to Moscow. Since 1992, he has worked with Harper's Bazaar/Hearst. His photographs are admired for their realism and sportaneity, and he has become equally sought after for his portraiture.
Demarchelier photos are on the record album covers of such stars at Madonna, Elton John, Mariah Carey, and Quincy Jones. His movie and publicity campaign credits include Bulworth, Dick Tracy, and Mystic Pizza. His commercial clients include cosmetic companies, designers, and exclusive retailers. Demarchelier's first book Patrick Demarchelier Fashion Photographs, was published in 1989. A second collection of his photographs, Patrick Demarchelier Photographs, was published in 1995. Patrick Demarchelier is the father of three young sons and the husband of former model Marie Christine.
Demarchelier was the first non-British photographer invited to photograph a memeber of the royal Family. His photographs of the late Princess Diana with her children appeared first in the December 1989 issue of British Vogue. His images posses a breezy, understated elegance and convey a thoughtful, realistic outlook. Besides doing fashion photography, Demarchelier also does celebrity portraiture, nudes, and beauty shots. In 2007, France's Minister of Culture, Mrs. Christine Albanel, honored Demarchelier as an Officer dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Patrick Demarchelier continues to live in Manhattan, New York with his wife Mia and their three children.
