Michael Thompson. Portraits

Portraits spans the twenty-year career of acclaimed fashion and celebrity photographer Michael Thompson. Taken from the pages of leading fashion and lifestyle magazines such as Vogue, W, GQ, Allure and Vanity Fair, Michael Thompson’s images provide fantastical yet revealing glimpses into the lives of the actors, musicians and personalities who enliven our culture. Through his chameleon-like adaptability, witty storytelling and concise visual aesthetic, Michael Thompson has created indelible imagery of celebrities such as Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Sting, Mariah Carey, and George Clooney. The book is a collection of images curated by acclaimed photography critic Vince Aletti, who has contributed to Rolling Stone, The Village Voice and The New Yorker. In Portraits, Aletti conducts a far-reaching appraisal of celebrity via Michael Thompson’s images by examining the emergence of celebrity as cult-object as well as the power of the photographer’s astringent gaze to strip artifice from his subject.

Michael Thompson was born and raised in Washington State, where he was first introduced to photography working at his father’s small portrait studio. After receiving a degree from the Brooks Institute of Photography, he moved to New York City and became primary assistant to the legendary photographer, Irving Penn. In his twenty-year career, Thompson has photographed models and celebrities for countless prestigious fashion magazines. His portfolio includes portraits of Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, David Bowie and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.