Michel Comte

Swiss-born photographer Michel Comte has been a prominent name in fashion photography since his arrival on the scene in the early 80s. Having shot campaigns for Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, and many more, his decades-spanning career has seen him capture the most important personalities of the latter 20th century, playing an instrumental role in the early rise of celebrity culture.

Born in 1954, Comte began his artistic career in contemporary fine art restoration, specialising in the works of Yves Klein and Andy Warhol. With a keen eye for detail and artistic sensitivity, he understood fashion and photography as progressive art forms to be explored and developed. A chance encounter with Karl Lagerfeld provided him with his first important opportunity – shooting the 1980 Chloe campaign for French Vogue. Now catapulted into the world of high fashion, he worked prolifically alongside the Supermodels of the era and developed a close working relationship with editor Franca Sozzani of Vogue Italia, carving out a name for himself within the fashion and celebrity zeitgeist of the era.

Recognised for his ability to capture the essence of both his subjects and the moment, his diverse work spans high-fashion campaigns – Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Gianfranco Ferré, Givenchy, Gucci, Estée Lauder and Versace; magazine editorials – Elle, Esquire, Interview, Mademoiselle, Marie Claire, Vanity Fair, Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue, and The New York Times Magazine; and celebrity portraits – Miles Davis, Whitney Houston, Sting, and Tina Turner, Catherine Deneuve, Nicole Kidman, and Brooke Shields.