Steven Klein. Hospital Drama, New York City, 2008. All rights reserved

How Steven Klein thrived during the pandemic

The photographer who made his name with shocking, big-budget shoots, proved he could still turn heads with iPhone still lifes

During the Covid pandemic, Steven Klein couldn’t work in his usual manner. Over the previous three decades, this highly acclaimed American photographer had developed a transgressive style of fashion and portraiture photography. Collaborating with famous figures, such as Rihanna, Madonna, Björk and Kanye West, as well as prominent models, including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Lara Stone, while working for such titles as American Vogue, Interview and W, as well as such brands including Nike, Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana, Klein created his own, shockingly libidinous manner of image making.

Commenting on the photographer's 1999 portraits of Brad Pitt for W Magazine – taken to publicize starring Pitt’s role in Fight Club – the photography critic Vince Aletti wrote that Klein “introduced a new sort of celebrity portraiture: fierce, fearless, just this side of disturbing."

Now, as lockdowns took hold in New York, putting the production teams, models or stars beyond his reach, Klein shrank his practice down, using his iPhone. Yet his focus remained undimmed. Phone in hand he chose to shoot small assemblages of unnerving objects, including a lipstick, a condom, a ridden saddle, a partially burned cigarette, and a photo of a bloodied knife, lying in some grass.

These recent images, which bookmark Klein’s new monograph, are both beautifully precise and wonderfully defiant; even while sheltering in place, the photographer could conjure up a wild, dangerous tension.

How Steven Klein thrived during the pandemic

Steven Klein, Self Portrait. courtesy Steven Klein studio

“Klein’s arranged objects evoke deadly acts with the coolness of forensic evidence,” writes editor Mark Holborn in our new monograph. “A bloodstained blade in the grass, included in the book’s final collage, confirms that he is revealing a morbid scene. To open this book is to enter criminal territory. Here, the police are busy. Transgression, too, has its allure.”

How Steven Klein thrived during the pandemic

Steven Klein

To begin your own investigation into these impressive images as well as many others, order a copy of Steven Klein here.

Steven KleinSteven Klein, edited and with an essay by Mark Holborn

As featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue, New Yorker, The Guardian, and The Telegraph

The first and only monograph on Klein, whose hyperreal and sexually charged images have captivated viewers for 30 years

One of the fashion industry's most cunning provocateurs, photographer Steven Klein has created many of the most iconic images of our time. Klein's photographs blur the line between fiction and reality, resulting in stunning tableaux that only exist within his fantastical worlds. Although his images include some of the most photographed people in the world, they disappear into the narrative of Klein's imagination.

The book includes images originally published in magazines such as Interview, W, Vogue, Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris, Vogue Hommes, i-D, among many others, and iconic faces such as those of Madonna, Brad Pitt, Kim Kardashian, and Rihanna.

Klein has worked with notable clients including Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana, Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen, and Louis Vuitton. His work has also been exhibited at galleries and museums globally such as Deitch Projects, Gagosian, and the International Center of Photography, among others. Edited by author Mark Holborn, this first survey of Klein's work showcases his extravagant, hyperreal creations and illuminates his singular vision.

Specifications:

Format: Hardback
Size: 356 × 305 mm (14 × 12 in)
Pages: 464 pp
Illustrations: 282 illustrations
ISBN: 9781838665555

Mark Holborn is an editor and book designer who has worked internationally with such diverse artists as Lucian Freud, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Issey Miyake, James Turrell, and William Eggleston. He edited the groundbreaking Full Moon, by Michael Light, documenting the nine Apollo moon missions, as well as books including Lucian Freud and Flora, both published by Phaidon.

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‘As a new monograph illustrates, the reality-bending iconography of Steven Klein has never been more pertinent…Klein's photography and its urgent, challenging nature have become more timely.’ – British Vogue

‘Showcases the photographer's coolly carnal vision.’ – Vanity Fair

‘This compelling and provocative book … can easily give David Lynch a run for his money in the beautiful-yet-unsettling stakes.’ – American Vogue

'Subversiveness—the transgressive vision—might be old-school, but Klein hasn’t given it up. His monograph suggests that it’s still a force that can thrill and disturb.' – New Yorker