Portraits by Albert Watson

My favourite portraits by the Scottish photographer Albert Watson, from a long and fruitful career.

Alfred Hitchcock by Albert Watson, 1973

Steve Jobs by Albert Watson, Cupertino, 2006

Aretha Franklin for Interview Magazine, Detroit, 1986

Mike Tyson by Albert Watson, Catskills, New York, 1986

Andy Warhol by Albert Watson, New York, 1985

Rodney Charles by Albert Watson, New York, 1988

Susie Bick by Albert Watson, Paris, 1985

Denzel Washington by Albert Watson, Los Angeles, 2006

Quentin Tarantino by Albert Watson, New York, 2004

Prince by Albert Watson, Cleveland, 2004

Keanu Reeves by Albert Watson for Details Magazine, New York, 1991

David Bowie by Albert Watson, New York, 1996

Live Tyler by Albert Watson, New York, 1994

Glenda Jackson as King Lear, 2018

Christie Turlington by Albert Watson, New York, 1990

Keith Richards by Albert Watson, New York, 1989

Portraits by Steve Pyke

This shot of Sam Fuller, from Edinburgh in 1983, was the first portrait Pyke took with a close-up lens on his Rolleiflex camera. This became his trademark portrait style. 

Derek Jarman by Steve Pyke, 1983

David Bailey by Steve Pyke, 1984.

Pyke pulls the camera back in this portrait of a fellow photographer. The dog is a nice touch.

Antony Sher by Steve Pyke, 1987.

A great portrait of one of Britain's finest actors.

Helen Mirren by Steve Pyke, 1990. Stunning!

Peter Greenaway by Steve Pyke, 1983

David Hockney by Steve Pyke, 1992

"Only truthful hands write true poems. I cannot see any basic difference between a handshake and a poem."

- Paul Celan 

“Hands have a history of their own, they have, indeed, their own civilization, their special beauty."

- Rilke

Iris Murdoch by Steve Pyke, Oxford, 1991

Prunella Scales by Steve Pyke, 1994

I love this Steve Pyke shot of Stephen Mallinder & Richard H. Kirk, of the British pop group Cabaret Voltaire, Sheffield, 1985.

Kathy Acker by Steve Pyke, Greenwich Village, 1984

Iggy Pop by Steve Pyke, London, 1986

Peter Cook by Steve Pyke, early 1990s

Ken Russell by Steve Pyke, 1985

Steve Pyke's great portrait of the legendary photographer Robert Doisneau, 1990.

The portraits of Christer Strömholm

Today is the birthday of the Swedish photographer Christer Strömholm (1918-2002). Here are some of his best portraits.

Fernand Léger by Christer Strömholm, Paris, 1949

Bob Rauschenberg by Christer Strömholm, Amsterdam, 1962

Martial Raysse by Christer Strömholm, Amsterdam, 1962

Man Ray by Christer Strömholm, Paris, 1960

André Breton by Christer Strömholm, Paris, 1951

Le Corbusier by Christer Strömholm, Paris, 1951

Alberto Giacometti by Christer Strömholm, Paris, 1960

Marcel Duchamp by Christer Strömholm, Cadaquez, 1963

Jean-Louis Barrault by Christer Strömholm, Paris, early 1950s

César Baldaccini by Christer Strömholm, Paris, 1965

Yves Klein by Christer Strömholm, Paris, 1960

Rotraut and Yves Klein by Christer Strömholm, Paris, 1960. The two, both visual artists, were married in 1962, and Klein died six months later.

Max Ernst by Christer Strömholm, Paris, 1963

A remarkable group portrait by Christer Strömholm from Amsterdam in 1962: Per-Olof Ultvedt, Robert Rauschenberg, Martial Raysse, Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle

Here's Christer Strömholm himself, in an impressive portrait by Sten Didrik Bellander from the 1950s

And a fine self-portrait of Christer Strömholm from the 1980s

Truman! Portraits of Truman Capote

Here are some of my favourite portraits of Truman Capote.

Truman Capote by Jean Mounicq, 1966

A polaroid of Truman Capote by Andy Warhol, 1979

Truman Capote by Henri Cartier-Bresson, New Orleans, 1947

Truman Capote by Arnold Newman, New York, 1977

Truman Capote by Irving Penn, 1948

Truman Capote by Richard Avedon, 1955

Truman's façade is definitely up in the Penn & Avedon portraits, but they both did more searching portraits later.

Here's Penn's portrait from 1965...

... and Avedon's from 1974.

Truman Capote & his bulldog in Portofino; a nice shot by Leonida Barezzi, 1950s. Capote was nicknamed Bulldog as a child, because he carried a pencil & notebook around, like the detective Bulldog Drummond.

Truman Capote & Andy Warhol by Mick Rock, 1979

Here's Truman Capote with Robert Blake & Scott Wilson on the set of In Cold Blood, photographed by Steve Schapiro, 1967

Truman Capote by Otto Stupakoff, 1970

Truman Capote by Carl Van Vechten, 1948. Capote was 23.

Truman Capote by Chris Smith, 1980. Such a sincere photo, & no mugging for the camera by Truman.

Truman Capote by Harry Langdon, Los Angeles, 1981

Truman Capote by Slim Aarons, 1958

Truman Capote by George Rose, 1980

One of the great Studio 54 photographs by Sonia Moskowitz: Jerry Hall, Andy Warhol, Truman Capote and Debbie Harry, June 7, 1979.