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Photographer Patrick Demarchelier dies aged 78

By MiNDFOOD, BANG Showbiz

Patrick Demarchelier attending Chloe Spring-Summer 2014 Ready-To-Wear collection show, in Paris, France, on September 29, 2013. Photo by Jerome Domine/ABACAPRESS.COM
Patrick Demarchelier attending Chloe Spring-Summer 2014 Ready-To-Wear collection show, in Paris, France, on September 29, 2013. Photo by Jerome Domine/ABACAPRESS.COM

Patrick Demarchelier has died at the age of 78.

The renowned French photographer was celebrated for his celebrity portraits and for creating iconic images for fashion magazines.

He is perhaps best known for his portraits of Princess Diana. He was first commissioned to photograph the royal in 1989, making him the first non-British official photographer for the Royal Family.

News of Demarchelier’s death was announced via his official Instagram account.

The photographer had created advertising campaigns for the likes of brands such as Chanel, Target, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Revlon, Lancôme, Gap and Louis Vuitton but it was his one of his covers for Vogue in 1989 that led to him being recruited by Diana, Princess of Wales.

Speaking about working with Diana, he said: “I remember when she first contacted me, that was in 1989. I had done a picture for British Vogue in which a model was opening her coat to show a picture of a little, laughing boy tucked into the inside pocket. The boy was in fact my son, and Diana, maybe because of her little boys, loved that picture so much that she got in touch.

“Diana didn’t pose like a model, and I had to work at getting her to relax. But I knew what I wanted because I had seen paparazzi pictures of her laughing, and that was when she was at her prettiest. Diana was funny and kind but fundamentally she was a very simple woman who liked very simple things. I never touched my pictures of her where she looked both in control and sweetly vulnerable, with plenty of her typical coyness.”

Legendary photographer Patrick Demarchelier has died aged 78

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