Models and companions of the late fashion photographer, Peter Lindbergh, reveal the backstories of some of his most iconic photographs.
Naomi speaks of this shoot with fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh, in Deauville when she was only seventeen years old.
“It’s freezing. The rain never stops. But I’m loving every minute. Because it’s Peter and I know I’m safe. I felt that every time we worked together – in my 20s, my 30s and my 40s – it was a magical experience. Somewhere between a wizard and an excited child, he was always buzzing. Even when darkness came, we would work on, long into the night. He could make you forget time.”
Marie Sophie Wilson
Admitting, “I guess I looked quite strange for the times: I had a crooked nose and bags under my eyes, which were also different colours.” The model/actress claims that Peter saw “that there is beauty in imperfection.“
Wilson says that when working for Peter “you give him your soul without even noticing.”
Kate Moss
Kate Moss describes Peter Lindbergh as like “a big, smiley, cuddly bear” who “was such fun and loved laughing.”
“When you worked with Peter, it was more like going on holiday with some photos thrown in. We just had a ball. Once I took my baby daughter with me and it felt like a family, he created that atmosphere.”
Grace Coddington
Fashion editor and Stylist, Grace Coddington, first worked alongside Peter for British Vogue in the 1980s.
Talking of their last shoot together in 2019, Coddington describes the two of them “tottering around on dodgy knees, deep in the rocky Californian desert.”
“Sensing my discomfort, Peter turned to me, smiled, and said: ‘Don’t worry, Grace. Between us we have over 120 years of experience, nothing can go wrong.’ “
Julien D’ys
Remembering the making of Linda Evangelista’s signature ’90s bob, hairstylist Julien D’ys speaks of Peter Lindbergh’s “extremely raw aesthetic” in which his job was to “help create the natural look he wanted for his characters.”
“One of the wildest moments was with Linda Evangelista in Paris in 1988. She was a young model at the time and as we came on set, Peter suddenly decided I should cut off her long brown hair. I had no idea what I was going to do until I got started.
I gathered her hair into a ponytail, then cut it off. I think I still have that ponytail at home. I felt as if I had cut off a part of her body.”
Rosalia
Having worked with Peter on a story for Vogue Spain, in July 2019, the singer Rosalia worked with him months before he passed away.
“I was nervous – not simply because he was Peter Lindbergh, but because, although I am used to performing in front of thousands of people, being shot is a completely different dynamic.
There was a purity about the way Peter worked: he would laugh all the time and that was infectious. He asked me to sing so that his son could shoot a video of it – I loved the fact that he worked with his son. Peter told me that his eyes had filled with tears when I stopped
A photographer who truly brings out the humanity in the person he’s shooting – that was the genius of Peter Lindbergh.”
The raw, unretouched black and white beauty of Peter Lindbergh’s photos is immortalised in fashion history with the debut of the ‘Peter Lindbergh: Untold Stories’ exhibition in A Coruña, Spain.
SEE MORE: LANDMARK EXHIBITION CURATED BY PETER LINDBERGH OPENS IN SPAIN