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While doing research for this month’s column, I stumbled across a couple of old magazine covers (from Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue Brasil) featuring a former boss of mine – Pilar Crespi. Pilar is the daughter of Count Rodolfo and Countess Consuelo Crespi (her mother was not only the Roman editor of Vogue but a former cover girl as well – appearing on the April 26th issue of Sports Illustrated in 1957). I also found photographs of Pilar from a story called “Pilar in Paradise” taken in Sri Lanka by the legendary British photographer Norman Parkinson for Town & Country in 1980 (four of the photos from this ten image portfolio are part of the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London).
When I worked for Pilar – as a publicist for Fendi, Missoni, Blumarine and other high-end Italian brands at Crespi & Mariani, her boutique public relations agency with business partner Angela Mariani (now called C&M Media) – in the late 1990’s, I remember the day she ran out of the office in a flurry of cashmere and fur only to return hours later with her naturally gorgeous face dramatically made up with false eyelashes and heavy eye shadow. It wasn’t until the December 1999 “Special Millennium Issue” of British Vogue came out – and I saw Pilar standing next to Janice Dickinson and Stephanie Seymour – that I realized she had left that day to be photographed by another legendary British photographer Nick Knight.
Pilar is also featured in Nick Knight’s new self-titled book (published by Collins Design, an imprint of Harper Collins) which chronicles his work from 1990 to the present. Besides Pilar, Nick has photographed many of the world’s most beautiful women including Giselle Bundchen, Linda Evangelista, Shalom Harlow (see photo above), and Nena Thurman (Uma’s mother) throughout his prolific career spanning the past three decades. If you’ve ever seen Kate Moss on the cover of British Vogue, it was most likely a Nick Knight photograph.
Nick’s first book, Skinheads, was published in 1982, just two years after he graduated from the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design. He first picked up a camera at the age of 17 as a way “to meet girls”. Since then, he has worked with just about every major brand in the fashion industry - Christian Dior (see photo above), Alexander McQueen, Levi’s, Louis Vuitton, and Yves Saint Laurent to name but a few - and his award-winning editorials have appeared not only in British Vogue (see photo below), but also i-D, Arena Homme Plus, Visionaire, and W as well.
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One of the first to realize that the internet would play a major role in expanding and shaping the world of contemporary fashion photography, Nick launched SHOWstudio.com in November 2000. Based on the belief “that showing the entire creative process – from conception to completion – is beneficial for the artist, the audience and the art itself”, Nick has collaborated with Bjork, Boy George, Comme des Garcons, Leigh Bowery, and countless others to create groundbreaking interactive projects, films and live performances.
Nick’s work – including a 22-foot polystyrene (think foam coffee cups) sculpture of Naomi Campbell – is also currently the subject of a major exhibition at Somerset House (the spectacular neo-classic building in the heart of London which was used in “The Duchess” starring Keira Knightley and “Sherlock Holmes” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law).
PRIZE PATROL!
Did you realize that was Devon Aoki – former 5’ 5” supermodel, star of “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “D.E.B.S.”, and the daughter of Benihana Steakhouse founder Rocky Aoki – on the cover of Nick Knight’s new book? Charlotte Cotton, the curator of photography at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art who wrote the tome’s introduction, calls that photograph (which Nick created with Alexander McQueen back in 1997 for Visionaire), “one of the first enduring, iconic images of the digital era”.
“Nick Knight” is filled with over 300 images - personally selected by Nick himself – that illustrate this influential visionary’s extraordinary vision and fearless experimentation.
Want to see them all? E-mail us at
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with “Nick Knight” in the subject line and tell us in 100 words or less which photographer’s work you admire and why. The first 10 entries (with a valid e-mail, home address and telephone number) will win a copy of “Nick Knight” - which retails for $75 – and will make a very dramatic addition to your coffee table. Only one entry/winner per household please.
Make sure to check out www.nickknight.com and www.SHOWstudio.com for more information about and examples of Nick Knight’s work.
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and a great role model for the glbt community i hope he stays on oltl for a long time and maybe do a article on out magazine and maybe write a book about coming out and being a openly gay actor keep the great work up scott
