Famous+Photographer

Amani Albahri Mr. Dominguez 3 May 2012 Photography Period 6 Terr Richardson

Son of a schizophrenic and drug abuser Terri Richardson born August 14 1965 is a well-known fashion photographer known worldwide. Richardson was raised in Hollywood in a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Where he attended Hollywood High School .He also lived Ojai, California, where he attended Nordhoff High School. He was shy as a teenager and at some times deemed completely lacking in social skills. He played bass guitar in the punk rock band The Invisible Government for five year. Richardson began photography when the band broke up and his mother introduced him to Tony Kent, a photographer who hired him as an assistant. Richardson has shot campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Aldo, Supreme, Tom Ford, and Yves Saint Laurent among others. He has also done various magazine editorials for publications such as //Rolling Stone//, //GQ//, //Vogue//, //Vanity Fair//, //i-D//, and //Vice//. Richardson has produced several campaigns for Diesel, including the 'Global Warming Ready' which won a Silver Lion for Print at Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in 2007. Throughout the years he has also produced several private portraits for the company's founder, Renzo Rosso. In September 2011, they hosted a mutual book launch together with fashion editor Carine Roitfeld at Colette in Paris Most recently, Richardson embarked on his first solo exhibition at Los Angeles's OHWOW Gallery. The exhibition is titled "TERRYWOOD" and ran from February 24 to March 31, 2012. There are several repeating themes in Richardson's work, notably that of putting high-profile celebrities in mundane situations and photographing them using traditionally pedestrian methods, such as the use of an instant camera. His work also explores ideas of sexuality, with many of the pieces featured in his books //Kibosh// and //Terryworld// depicting full-frontal nudity and both simulated and unsimulated sexual acts. Initially, many of Richardson's subjects would be shot before a white background but in recent years he has expanded to other backdrops. He is also well known for posing with his subjects, often trading his trademark glasses with them so they may "pretend to be him" and vice versa. Richardson was married to model Nikki Uberti. He was at the same time in a relationship with model and actress Shalom Harlow. Richardson has been repeatedly accused of sexual abuse throughout the past decade. As reported in //The Globe and Mail//, he once claimed of the fashion world, "It's not who you know, it's who you blow. "Numerous models he worked with in the past, most prominently Danish model and filmmaker Rie Rasmussen and Jamie Peck, have reported their experiences of both sexual harassment and coercion in his studio. "He takes girls who are young, manipulates them to take their clothes off and takes pictures of them they will be ashamed of," said Rasmussen to the //New York Post//. Richardson did not respond to the article's publication. Peck, who was 19 at the time, reported that Richardson requested she "take out my tampon for him to play with" and later pressured her into masturbating him with her hand, telling her, "If you make me come, you get an A." Following the publication of these allegations, the website Jezebel.com called on other models to come forward with their experiences with Richardson. Jenna Sauers, a model-turned-blogger for the site, stated she received numerous anonymous accounts of the photographer's behavior: "I have heard from a lot of models that he has worked with that all say his M.O. is the same. You suddenly get naked and then he touches you and he goes further and further. But you're surrounded by his assistants and they are validating his actions." In response to these allegations, Richardson has said, "Some people think they're degrading to women. And those are great reactions to get, because the same people who are saying that are secretly taking dumps on people or like to drink piss or whatever. Everybody has their trips." Model Noot Seear has defended him, pointing out that he does not pressure those he works with into doing anything they are uncomfortable with, while designer Marc Jacobs, although admitting problems within the industry, has said that as a person Richardson is "not ill-spirited.i

Richardson has been repeatedly accused of sexual abuse throughout the past decade. As reported in The Globe and Mail, he once claimed of the fashion world, "It's not who you know, it's who you blow." Numerous models he worked with in the past, most prominently Danish model and filmmaker Rie Rasmussen and Jamie Peck, have reported their experiences of both sexual harassment and coercion in his studio. "He takes girls who are young, manipulates them to take their clothes off and takes pictures of them they will be ashamed of," said Rasmussen to the New York Post. Richardson did not respond to the article's publication.Peck, who was 19 at the time, reported that Richardson requested she "take out my tampon for him to play with" and later pressured her into masturbating him with her hand, telling her, "if you make me come, you get an A. Following the publication of these allegations, the website Jezebel.com called on other models to come forward with their experiences with Richardson. Jenna Sauers, a model-turned-blogger for the site, stated she received numerous anonymous accounts of the photographer's behavior: "I have heard from a lot of models that he has worked with that all say his M.O. is the same. You suddenly get naked and then he touches you and he goes further and further. But you're surrounded by his assistants and they are validating his actions." In response to these allegations, Richardson has said, "Some people think they're degrading to women. And those are great reactions to get, because the same people who are saying that are secretly taking dumps on people or like to drink piss or whatever. Everybody has their trips."Model Noot Seear has defended him, pointing out that he does not pressure those he works with into doing anything they are uncomfortable with,while designer Marc Jacobs, although admitting problems within the industry, has said that as a person Richardson is "not ill-spirited."