Pecha Kucha - Terry Richardson

Terry Richardson was born in New York City, the son of Bob Richardson, a fashion photographer who struggled with schizophrenia and drug abuse. He was raised in Hollywood, which remains a great influence in the photographer’s work. Richardson’s photographs are invariably peppered with lurid, graphic and technicolour references of Hollywood’s wild youth, and often features ‘young Hollywood’ celebrities themselves. One of fashion’s most controversial photographers, Terry Richardson’s sexually charged aesthetic has made his work popular with editors, designers and consumers. His editorials have appeared in a multitude of magazines including Rolling Stone, GQ, British and American Vogue, Vanity Fair, i-D, and Vice. 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 actual sexual acts. Initially, many of Richardson's subjects would be shot before a white background but he eventually expanded to other backdrops. He is also known for posing with his subjects, often giving them his trademark glasses so they may "pretend to be him" or, in the case of actress Chloe Sevigny posing them in makeup and costume so that they look like him.  

The main photographers who have inspired him and his work are these following artists Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Diane Airbus and Robert Frank who are the influences on his artistic style. His work has also been praised by Helmut Newton.

However Richardson is no stranger to controversy due to the youthful look of many of his model and the sexually charged, and at times explicit nature of his visual aesthetic. What marks Richardson out is that he has been repeatedly accused of sexual harassing young women modelling for him.  Models and former models, including Coca Rocha, Rie Rasmussen, Jamie Peck and Charlotte Waters, have  accused Richardson of inappropriate sexual behaviour and of exploiting young female models, including using his position to engage in sexual acts with models during photo shoots. The accusations date back to as early as 2001, with some of the claims being made public in a number of newspapers, online fashion blogs and magazines from 2004 onwards.

Terry Richardson who has been accused of persuading models as young as 19 to perform sexual acts on him while taking their photograph says he only ever engaged in consensual behaviour. However he admitted he sometimes behaved in a sexually explicit manner with models during photo shoots. Model Liskula Cohen told Girlie Girl Army she had walked off a fashion shoot because Mr Richardson had "made her feel like a prostitute".

However Richardson has responded to these claims and has said this “I just want to take a moment to say I’m really hurt by the recent and false allegations of insensitivity and misconduct. I feel fortunate to work with so many extraordinary people each and every day. I’ve always been considerate and respectful of the people I photograph and I view what I do as a real collaboration between myself and the people in front of the camera." I believe he is just trying to save face from the public now that he has been found out about the disgusting ways he uses models for him. Some people have defended his actions such as model Noot Seear claiming he does not pressurise those he works with into anything they are not comfortable with. Richardson has shot campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Yves Saint Laurent , Aldo and Supreme, among others. He 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. 

There appear to be moves within the fashion industry to distance itself from the photographer in the wake of the controversy continuing to surround him. Valentino have removed references to Richardson from their Instagram page featuring the latest campaign shot by him. The photographs credited Richardson up until last Thursday, but the following day the credit was removed from pictures taken by him for the Italian fashion house’s Instagram feed. 

In light of all this controversy with Richardson, Condé Nast International sent out an email regarding the sacking of Richardson and that they and their staff will not be working or be associated with Terry Richardson’s photographic work. An email circulated among the media group said work already commissioned from the 52-year-old should be “killed or substituted with other material”.  Conde Nast which publishes high-fashion magazines Vogue and Vanity Fair would no longer publish fashion photographer Terry Richardson’s work, after fresh scrutiny of years of sexual assault and harassment allegations made against him. However it appears that it took the fallout from the scandal surrounding the behaviour of the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, and the dozens of claims of sexual harassment and assault levelled against him, to prompt Conde Nast to drop Richardson from its stable of photographers. 

https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/terry-richardson 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/24/banned-photographer-terry-richardson-admits-interacting-models/ 

https://www.theguardian.co.uk/news/2017/10/20/terry-richardson/