Paolo Roversi (born 1947) is an Italian-born

fashion photographer Fashion photography is a genre of photography which is devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items, sometimes haute couture. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking a picture of a dressed model in a photographic studio ...

who lives and works in Paris.National Portrait Gallery – Face of Fashion
/ref> Paolo Roversi Paris Fashion Week Spring Summer 2019

Early life

Born in

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

in 1947, Paolo Roversi's interest in photography was kindled as a teenager during a family vacation in Spain in 1964. Back home, he set up a darkroom in a convenient cellar with another keen amateur, the local postman Battista Minguzzi, and began developing and printing his own black & white work. The encounter with a local professional photographer Nevio Natali was very important: in Nevio's studio, Roversi spent many hours realising an important apprenticeship as well as a strong durable friendship.

Career

In 1970, he started collaborating with the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

: on his first assignment, AP sent Roversi to cover Ezra Pound's funeral in Venice. During the same year, Roversi opened, with his friend Giancarlo Gramantieri his first portrait studio, located in

, via Cavour, 58, photographing local celebrities and their families. In 1971, he met by chance in Ravenna, Peter Knapp, the Swiss fashion photography and legendary artistic director of ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' magazine. At Knapp's invitation, Roversi visited Paris in November 1973 and has never left. In Paris, Roversi started working as a reporter for the Huppert Agency but little by little, through his friends, he began to approach fashion photography. The photographers who really interested him then were reporters. At that moment he didn't know much about fashion or fashion photography. Only later, he discovered the work of Avedon, Penn, Newton, Bourdin, and many others. The British photographer Laurence Sackman took Roversi on as his assistant in 1974. Roversi endured Sackmann for nine months before starting on his own with small jobs here and there for magazines like ''

'' and ''Depeche Mode'' until '' Marie Claire'' published his first major fashion story. Roversi's career has since bloomed to include celebrity and fashion photography. He has been a regular contributor to '' American Vogue'', and ''

Vogue Italia ''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. It's been in publication since 1964. Name ''Vogue Italia'' was first published as ''No ...

'', '' W'', '' Vanity Fair'', ''

Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

'' and '' i-D''. He has also photographed advertising campaigns for

Yohji Yamamoto is a Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. Considered a master tailor alongside those such as Madeleine Vionnet, he is known for his avant-garde tailoring featuring Japanese design aesthetics. Yamamoto has won notable awards f ...

Comme des Garçons Comme des Garçons (also known as CDG) is a Japanese fashion label based in Paris that was created and led by Rei Kawakubo. Its French flagship store is located in Paris. This label owns a world-wide store chain featuring various lines of pro ...

, Dior, Cerruti, GIADA, Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino and Alberta Ferreti.

Technique

Roversi has said of his technique: He is known for shooting with 8x10 Polaroid film, and claimed to buy as much as he could find before it was discontinued.

Early life

Career

Technique

References

Further reading