Born 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, American fashion photographer Bob Richardson was originally a graphic designer in New York City, he did not pick up a camera until age 35. His rise to fashion fame was swift, although not without some battle on his part:
“I wanted to put reality in my photographs. Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. That’s what was happening. And I was going to help make it happen. Boy they did not want that in America. Some of those editors were still wearing white gloves to couture.”
Richardson developed a reputation for being very difficult to work with. He brought his personal life, which was tumultuous, into his art. He battled with bouts of schizophrenia throughout his life. After making it to the top of the often catty and vicious world of fashion, getting paid up to $15,000 for a single image, he succumbed to his illness and ended up homeless on the streets of San Francisco.
In 1989, an art historian researching fashion photography tracked Richardson down living in a flophouse, opening the door to Richardson’s reestablishing contact with his son and eventually returning to New York City, where with the help of Richard Avedon and Steven Meisel, he was able to obtain teaching positions at International Center for Photography and the School of Visual Arts.
Richardson restarted his career in his sixties, once again working for such magazines as Italian Vogue and British GQ. He died in 2005 at the age of 77. These vintage photos are part of his work that Bob Richardson took fashion portraits of classic beauties in the 1960s.
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| Deborah Dixon in evening dress of silk chiffon surah, printed from white on black to black on white, with a giant triangular scarf knotted in back, by Galanos, photo by Bob Richardson, Harper’s Bazaar, April 1964 |
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| Carmen de Lavallade is wearing an overblouse of jeweled beads and rhinestones by Larry Aldrich, photo by Bob Richardson, Harper’s Bazaar, October 1964 |
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| Iris Bianchi (l) wearing 4 crystal flower pins by Vendôme, Deborah Dixon (m) in faux gray pearls and rhinestones by Laguna, Ina Balke (r) in 3 rhinestone stars by Richelieu, photo by Bob Richardson, Harper’s Bazaar, April 1964 |
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| Jill Kennington in brilliant plaid halter-necklined dress in scarlet, green, blue yellow and black wool by Lanz, photo by Bob Richardson, Harper’s Bazaar, August 1964 |
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| Jill Kennington in white silk twill cut-away jacket shaped over the glittering bodice of an Empire-waisted dress by Nat Kaplan, hat by Adolfo, photo by Bob Richardson, Harper’s Bazaar, August 1964 |
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