Nicholas David Gordon Knight (born 24 November 1958) is a British
fashion photographer and founder and director of SHOWstudio.com. He is an honorary professor at
University of the Arts London
The University of the Arts London is a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts. The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of ...
and was awarded an honorary Ph.D. by the same university. He has produced books of his work including retrospectives ''Nicknight'' (1994) and ''Nick Knight'' (2009). In 2016, Knight's 1992 campaign photograph for fashion brand
Jil Sander was sold by
Phillips auction house at the record-breaking price of HKD 2,360,000.
Life and career
Knight was born in
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
It ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. He studied photography at
Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design and published his first book of photographs, ''Skinhead'', in 1982 when he was still a student at the school. He was then commissioned by ''
i-D'' editor Terry Jones to create a series of portraits for the magazine's fifth-anniversary issue. His work caught the attention of art director Marc Ascoli, who commissioned Knight to shoot the 1986 catalog of Japanese designer
Yohji Yamamoto in collaboration with
Peter Saville.
In 1992 Knight took a year-long break from fashion photography to work on an exhibition at the
Natural History Museum, London
The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...
with the British architect
David Chipperfield
Sir David Alan Chipperfield, , (born 18 December 1953) is a British architect. He established David Chipperfield Architects in 1985, which grew into a global architectural practice with offices in London, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai, and Santiago d ...
. The exhibition was called ''Plant Power'' and was on the theme of the relationship between humans and plants. The exhibition lasted for fifteen years.
In November 2000, Knight launched SHOWstudio.com.
He directed his first music video in 2001, for the song "
Pagan Poetry" by
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
. In 2003, he created a film for
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...
's album ''
100th Window.'' In 2011 and 2013, he directed the videos for
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...
's single "
Born This Way" and
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...
's "
Bound 2" and "
Black Skinhead." In 2016, he photographed American rapper/singer
Travis Scott for his sophomore album ''
Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight
''Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight'' is the second studio album by American rapper Travis Scott. It was released on September 2, 2016, through Grand Hustle Records and distributed by Epic Records. Originally promoted by the fake mixtape ''Days Be ...
.''
In 2016, he was commissioned to shoot official portraits of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles for the Queen's 90th birthday.
Also in 2016, Knight's hand-coated pigment photographic work, ''Tatjana Patitz for Jil Sander, 1992'' sold for an artist-record $304,204 at Phillips Hong Kong. The work, originally photographed in 1992 and reprinted in 2016, featured supermodel
Tatjana Patitz in a
Jil Sander advertising campaign photographed by Knight. The celebrated photograph from Knight's commercial career in the fashion industry represents the collectability of his painterly works to buyers in the world of fine art.
In 2019, he collaborated with Kanye West, directing his short film ''
Jesus Is King.'' Filmed in the summer of 2019, the film brings West's Sunday Service to life in the
Roden Crater, artist
James Turrell
James Turrell (born May 6, 1943) is an American artist known for his work within the Light and Space movement. He is considered the "master of light" often creating art installations that mix natural light with artificial color through openings ...
's installation in the
Painted Desert. The film accompanied the release of ''
Jesus Is King'', West's ninth studio album, and was released in
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...
theaters on 25 October 2019.
In 2021, he reunited with Gaga for a collaboration with Champagne brand
Dom Perignon on the campaign "The Queendom", in order to realize a series of photos as well as an advertisement, which was released on 6 April.
Following the announcement of Lady Gaga’s 2022 Summer Stadium World Tour,
The Chromatica Ball, Knight was commissioned to shoot a series of interludes several weeks before it started, matching the twisted dark fantasy visuals Gaga had in mind for her shows.
Already
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE), Knight was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE) in the
2023 Birthday Honours
The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part ...
for services to fashion and photography.
Selected exhibitions
A few of Nick Knight's exhibitions are listed below:
2016
*''Nick Knight'', Christophe Guye Galerie, Zürich, Switzerland
* ''Nick Knight: Image'', Daelim Museum, Seoul, South Korea
* ''History of Photography: The Body'',
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
, London
* ''#techstyle'',
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...
, United States of America
* ''Vogue 100'',
National Portrait Gallery, London
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...
2015
*''Vogue Like a Painting'', Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain
*''Killer Heels'', Victoria and Albert Museum, London
*''Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty'', Victoria and Albert Museum, London
2014
* ''Killer Heels'',
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
, Brooklyn New York, United States
2012
* ''Icons of Tomorrow – Contemporary Fashion Photography'', Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
2011
* ''Vanity'', Kunsthalle Vienna, Austria
2009
* ''Fashion Revolution'',
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...
, London
2006
* ''Archeology of Elegance'', Deichtorhallen Museum, Hamburg, Germany
* ''Talking to Myself,
Yohji Yamamoto'', La Masion Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
2001
* ''Century City'',
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...
, London
2000
* ''CUT'', (Exhibition By The Hairdresser Barnabee) Musee De La Mode, Paris
* ''La Beaute'', Exhibition For EN2000, Avignon, France
* ''Facing The Future'', Touring Exhibition to Celebrate 20 Years of The Face Magazine
* ''Das Fernglas'',
German Hygiene Museum, Dresden, Germany
* ''Nadja'', Exhibition Celebrating Nadja Auermann, Germany
* ''Imperfect Beauty'', Victoria and Albert Museum, London
* ''Nurture and Desire'', Hayward Gallery, London
1998
* ''Look at me – Fashion Photography 1965 to Present'', British Council Traveling Exhibition
* ''Powerhause:uk'', Department of Trade and Industry
* ''The Oriental Curiosity – 21st Century Chinoiserie'', Traveling exhibition, (London, Paris, Hong Kong)
* ''Shoreditch Biennale'', London
* ''The first 25'' (retrospective exhibition of images from Visionaire magazine), Colette, Paris
* ''Addressing the Century: 100 Years of Art and Fashion'', Hayward Gallery, London
* ''No Sex Please we’re British'', Dazed & Confused, and Shiseido Co Ltd, Japan
* ''Yves Saint Laurent – 40 Years of Creation'', New York, and Tokyo
* ''Silver & Syrup'', Victoria and Albert Museum, London
1997
* ''Contemporary Fashion Photography'', Victoria and Albert Museum, London
* ''JAM'', Barbican Gallery, London
* ''Little Boxes'', (to accompany the launch of Michael Mack's book, „Surface - Contemporary. Photographic Practice“); Traveling exhibition curated by Michael Mack
1996
* ''Art/Fashion'' (with Alexander McQueen), Biennale di Firenze, Italy
1994
* ''A Positive View'', Saatchi Gallery, London
1993
* ''Vanities Exhibition'', Paris
* ''Plant Power'', (permanent exhibit), Natural History Museum, London
1992
* Festival De La Photo De Mode Exhibition, Monaco
1991
* Festival De La Photo De Mode Exhibition, Barcelona, Spain
1989
* Out of Fashion,
The Photographers' Gallery, London
* ''Ils Annoncent La Colour'',
Rencontres d'Arles, Holly
1986
* ''20 For Today'', National Portrait Gallery, London
* ''14-21 Youth Culture Exhibition'', Victoria and Albert Museum, London
1982
* ''Group Exhibition 1982'', The Photographers' Gallery, London
Publications
*''Skinhead.'' London; New York:
Omnibus, 1982. .
*''Nicknight.'' Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 1994. . Produced and directed by Marc Ascoli, Nick Knight, and Peter Saville. Written by Satoko Nakahara.
*''Flora.'' Text by
Sandra Knapp, art direction by
Peter Saville, design by
Paul Barnes. Initiated in 1993 for his installation of ''Plant Power'' at the
Natural History Museum, London
The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...
.
**Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 1997. . Hardback.
**'
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2003. . Paperback.
*''Nick Knight.'' With an introduction by
Charlotte Cotton.
**New York:
Collins Design
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the " Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. HarperCollins is ...
, 2009. .
**
Harper Design, 2015. .
*''Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!''. New York: Rizzoli, 2013. .
Awards
* 2015 - Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator at
British Fashion Awards.
See also
*
Big 4 (sculpture)
References
External links
*
*
Nick Knight: Techno King ''The New York Times''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Nick
1958 births
Living people
British music video directors
British documentary photographers
British fashion photographers
People from Hammersmith
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Alumni of Arts University Bournemouth
20th-century British photographers
21st-century British photographers
Photographers from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham