Willie Christie’s photographs are far more than a record of fashion, style or contemporary culture. Dynamic, cinematic and stylish, they present beautifully observed moments within a narrative, leaving the viewer intrigued, beguiled and enthralled. His work from the heady mid-1970s remains highly relevant today, speaking to us through the uncompromising individuality and power of his compositions. And as recently as 2019, his ground-breaking series of advertising images for Medway Shoes threw another curve ball across the field of modern visual art.
With a foreword by legendary Vogue style director Grace Coddington, this first ever collection of Christie’s vibrant work, re-examines the people and the styles of his original output, together with his own reminiscences from his days at Vogue and The Sunday Times, and from his collaborations with Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones.
“It’s a surprising book of contrasts and contradictions, a paean to the fashion image of the time, one clearly influenced by the mono-chromatic asceticism of Horst and the drenched hues of Guy Bourdin.” — The Sunday Times Style
Willie Christie was born a while ago. During the ‘70s and early ‘80s he worked extensively as a photographer with British Vogue. His portfolio includes award-winning advertising campaigns (L’Oreal and Yves St Laurent), fashion and portrait work for international icons (e.g., Cary Grant, Grace Jones, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, Sir John Mills, Catherine Deneuve) and Rock ‘n’ Roll album covers and portraits (e.g., Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Lou Reed and more). After winning a series of awards and being featured in several exhibitions, the lure of film pulled him away from photographs. In 1982, he moved into the realm of writing and directing commercials and music videos, such as Pink Floyd’s Final Cut and the first cinema commercial for Medway shoes. The launch of Willie’s Limited Edition Collection in 2011 marked the first time the photographer delved into his personal archives to showcase work that hadn’t been displayed for over three decades.
Willie Christie : a very distinctive style: Then & Now
ACC Art Books
Hardback
300 mm x 227 mm
240 Pages
98 color, 76 b&w
ISBN 9781788842358
https://www.accartbooks.com/us/
