Bob Richardson (photographer)

Bob Richardson (1928 - December 5, 2005, in Manhattan, New York) was an American fashion photographer. He is credited with bringing a street aesthetic and visceralness into fashion photography. His influence is evident in major fashion publications to this day.

Originally a graphic designer in New York City, Richardson 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.

Bob developed a reputation for being difficult to work with. He brought his 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. An old friend brought him back to New York City to teach in a top photography school, and Bob restarted his career in his sixties, once again working for such magazines as Italian Vogue and British GQ.