With a style at once impactful, reflective and irreverent, photographer Jonathan Becker belongs more to the artistic than the documentarian realm, masterfully capturing a theatrical sense of the unexpected as he offers glimpses into rarefied worlds.
Bea Feitler — the late, legendary artistic director responsible for vamping up Harper’s Bazaar and Rolling Stone in the 1960s and ’70s — gave Becker his first big break, in 1981, when she asked him to submit images for the relaunch of Vanity Fair.
Becker, who was 26 at the time, had already been the first Paris-based photographer for W magazine and had forged a close friendship with French-Hungarian Surrealist photographer Brassaï, who was then in his 70s. By this age, too, Becker had also developed an enviable reputation as a portrait photographer working on Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine and alongside Slim Aarons and Norman Parkinson at Town & Country, although he knew not to step on his famous colleagues’ toes. “I was a young little interloper,” he says. “I learned more by listening and watching those giants than by trying to engage in any direct interactions with them.”
The young photographer, who was moonlighting at the time as a New York City cab driver, hadn’t dreamed that the project would put his pictures on an equal footing with those of legends of the medium: Also contributing to this debut edition were some of photography’s most revered names, including Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Helmut Newton, as well as rising star Annie Leibovitz, whose popularity had recently skyrocketed, thanks to her Rolling Stone cover picture of a naked John Lennon curled up alongside a fully clothed Yoko Ono.
That issue was a game changer in modern magazine publishing, with Vanity Fair setting the bar for engaging editorial and daring design for decades to come. It also signaled the making of a man: Becker’s talent for visual storytelling shone through in his avant-gardist tribute, and the magazine’s creative team kept him on, marking the start of his long career there.
As a regular Vanity Fair contributor, Becker operated in the highest echelons of society, traveling the world and immortalizing countless A-list movers, shakers and thinkers from the fields of fashion, culture and politics, not to mention royalty.
Becker's unconventional way of directing his eye is clearly instinctual, resulting in an unusual aesthetic that mixes perception, myth and reality in equal measure. This balance is most apparent in his famous black-and-white picture of Robert Mapplethorpe, taken in 1988 at the opening of Mapplethorpe’s retrospective exhibition at the Whitney, when the famed photographer was dying of AIDS. It is a group shot, showing various figures at different angles, in which Mapplethorpe, caught in profile and listening intently to a woman kneeling beside him, seems to stop time. The moment is heavy with emotion and also dreamlike. It is ineffably surreal.
Becker has given us Stephen King as a cross-eyed zombie (1980); Dustin Hoffman as a mischief maker, lounging on a stack of sun loungers at the Beverly Hills Hotel (2004); and Diana Vreeland as an aging Raphaelesque Madonna dressed in a voluminous black gown and sitting cross-legged in her famous red-clad living room at 550 Park Avenue (1979). The photographer, a lover of spontaneity who deftly plays with perspectives, keeps us intrigued with his open-ended narratives.
Find a collection of Jonathan Becker photography on 1stDibs.
Jean-Paul Goude & Toukie Smith in NYC Subway, 1976
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Jean-Paul Goude & Toukie Smith in NYC Subway, 1976 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 14" x 14.5" Platinum/Palladium Print Edition Nº 1 of 6 Ce...
Platinum
Diana Vreeland, Chelsea, New York City, 1981
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Diana Vreeland, Chelsea, New York City, 1981 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 14" x 14" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 6 Certificate of Origin Signed and Titled ...
Archival Pigment
Saturday Night Live in Elaine's Kitchen, 1976
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Elaine's Kitchen - Saturday Night Live • Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi & Lorne Michaels, New York, January 1976 Photographed by Jonathan ...
Archival Pigment
Brassaï at Eze-Village, May 1982
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Brassaï at Eze-Village, May 1982 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 28" x 28.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 2 of 9 Certificate of Origin Signed and Titled by the Pho...
Archival Pigment
$12,000
Julian Schnabel at his Outdoor Studio, Montauk, New York, 13 August 2001
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Julian Schnabel at his Outdoor Studio, Montauk, New York, 13 August 2001 Schnabel's magnificent open-air studio benefits fully from the special light of Long Island's East End as oi...
Platinum
Villa Cetinale, Siena Italy, May 2012
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Villa Cetinale, Italy, May 2012 A moment at a storied property where centuries of history pile on Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 4...
Archival Pigment
Andy Warhol and His Corsets at the Fourth Factory, New York, 1986
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Andy Warhol and his corsets at the fourth factory, New York, 1986 "Andy had to wear corsets ever after he was shot in the abdomen. The ever-devoted Brigid "Polk" Berlin dyed them f...
Archival Pigment
Cuba Gooding Jr. and Tom Cruise at Annabel's, London, 7 February 2015
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Cuba Gooding Jr. and Tom Cruise at Annabel's, London, 7 February 2015 They'd both been shown the money. Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigment Pr...
Archival Pigment
Cindy Sherman in her New York Studio, 14 September 1993
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Cindy Sherman in her New York Studio, 14 September 1993 Backstage at Cindy Sherman’s studio in SoHo with paraphernalia, accoutrements of her work. P...
Archival Pigment
John Chamberlain at Kim Esteve’s bar, Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 1994
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
John Chamberlain at Kim Esteve’s bar, Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 1994 X Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 28" x 28.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 9 Certifica...
Archival Pigment
La Chasse au Cerf, Normandie, France, September 1975
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
La Chasse au Cerf, Normandie, France, September 1975 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 9 Certificate of Origin Signed a...
Archival Pigment
$12,000
Martha Graham with Madonna & Calvin Klein at New York City Center, October 1990
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Martha Graham at New York City Center after her final onstage bow - backstage with Madonna and Calvin Klein, October 1990 "Martha was my godmother, and she was posing." - JB Photog...
Platinum
Arthur Miller and Inge Morath at home, Connecticut, August 23, 1991
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Arthur Miller and Inge Morath at home, Connecticut, August 23, 1991 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 20" x 24" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 3 Certificate of Or...
Archival Pigment
Ai Weiwei in his studio, Beijing, 12 May 2007
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Ai Weiwei in his studio, Beijing, 12 May 2007 X Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 9 Certificate of Origin Signed and ...
Archival Pigment
Tête de Cochon, Les Halles at Rungis, France, June 1984
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Tête de Cochon, Les Halles at Rungis, France, June 1984 This photograph was made in conjunction with a portfolio project about the massive displacement of th...
Archival Pigment
Jean-Michel Basquiat at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1 October 1985
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Jean-Michel Basquiat at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1 October 1985 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 18" x 18.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 3 of 9 Certificate...
Archival Pigment
Emma in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, April 1984
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Emma in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, 1984 Pão de Açucar, (Sugarloaf Mountain), Rio’s defining landmark looms in the background. Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 14" x 14.5...
Platinum
Elaine's Kitchen - Andy Warhol and Elaine, New York, 1976
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Elaine's Kitchen - Andy Warhol and Elaine, New York, 1976 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 14" x 14.5" Platinum & Palladium Print Edition Nº 1 of 3 Certificate of Origin Signed and Titled by the Photographer in Edition and Emboss-stamped in the Margin/Recto Printing & Edition Notes along with Copyright Stamp and Applicable Providence on Verso Printed by hand at the photographer's studio in the traditional Platinum & Palladium process on 100% cotton rag paper. Platinum & Palladium prints are known for their unrivaled longevity and unparalleled subtlety. Print cost includes wrapping/packing/crating for shipment in double-tubing. ______ Jonathan Becker (Steven Kasher Gallery bio by Mark Rozzo) Literate flair, acute visual intuition, love of mischief and spontaneity, and global wanderlust: These are among the hallmarks of the work of Jonathan Becker, whose photography spans four decades and includes iconic portraits (often for Vanity Fair) of a multiplicity of subjects, including Robert Mapplethorpe, Martha Graham, Madonna, Elia Kazan, Prince Charles, Eudora Welty, André Leon Talley, Ai Weiwei, Diana Vreeland and Jack Kevorkian. Becker - whose work was first published in Andy Warhol’s Interview in 1973 - was born in 1954 and raised in New York City. In the mid-1970s, he moved for a year to Paris, where he was mentored by his hero, Brassaï. Upon return to New York, Becker drove a cab, toting his camera and parking to complete magazine assignments. A 1981 exhibition of Becker’s work at New York’s Rentschler Gallery included a series of arresting images of patrons taken inside the kitchen at Elaine’s, the storied hangout on New York’s Upper East Side. This exhibition, curated by art director Bea Feitler brought Becker to the attention of Frank Zachary, editor-in-chief of Town & Country. Zachary invited Becker to work for the magazine, where the young photographer further developed his passion for journalistic portraiture alongside Slim Aarons, who, after Brassaï, became Becker’s guiding light. Becker was then enlisted by Bea Feitler to contribute portraits to the prototype of Vanity Fair’s 1983 re-launch. His participation led to a highly prolific association with the magazine as Contributing Photographer, continuing to this day. Becker has also contributed portraits and reportage to The New Yorker, Vogue, W, The Paris Review, amongst truly most major publications. In complement to his editorial work, Becker has accepted a limited number of private and family portrait commissions each year, some accompanied by privately published books, and in the course of his three-years-long project for the Rockefeller Foundation, Becker documented its vast array of philanthropic grant recipients on four continents abroad. Six trade books comprised entirely of Becker’s photographs have been published including Bright Young Things...
Platinum
Andy Warhol and His Corsets at the Fourth Factory, New York, 1986
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Andy Warhol and his corsets at the fourth factory, New York, 1986 "Andy had to wear corsets ever after he was shot in the abdomen. The ever-devoted Brigid "Polk" Berlin dyed them f...
Platinum
Wm. F. and Pat Buckley at The New York Public Library, 19 May 1988
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Wm. F. and Pat Buckley at The New York Public Library, 19 May 1988 "Pinnacles of New York society" Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 18" x 18.5" Archival Pigment Print, ...
Archival Pigment
Elaine's Kitchen - Andy Warhol and Elaine, New York, 1976
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Elaine's Kitchen - Andy Warhol and Elaine, New York, 1976 X Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 9 Certificate of Origin...
Archival Pigment
Baby Carriage, Paris, 1974
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Baby Carriage, Paris, 1974 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 32" x 32.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 2 Certificate of Origin Signed and Titled by the Photograp...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Brassaï noctambulating for the last time, Beaulieu, June 1984
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Brassaï noctambulating for the last time, Beaulieu, June 1984 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary Three Sizes Available: • 9" x 9" Archival Pigment Print - Edition Nº 1 of...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Diana Vreeland at home, 550 Park Avenue, New York, 21 July 1979
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Diana Vreeland at home, 550 Park Avenue, New York, 21 July 1979 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 9 Certificate of Orig...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
David Bowie, Damien Hirst, & Julian Schnabel, New York, 3 May 1996
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
David Bowie, Damien Hirst, and Julian Schnabel at Hirst's Opening, Gagosian Gallery, New York, 3 May 1996 X Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigmen...
Archival Pigment
$5,500
H 47 in W 35 in D 0.2 in
Haute Couture - Linda Evangelista and Claudia Schiffer at Versace Fashion
By Bruno Bisang
Located in New York City, NY
Haute Couture - Linda Evangelista and Claudia Schiffer at Versace
Archival Pigment
$12,000
H 40 in W 40 in D 2 in
Demeter and Persephone (Argentum by Guido Argentini)
By Guido Argentini
Located in New York City, NY
40x40in ed.18 Archival Pigment Print MOUNTED AND FRAMED Also available in 48x48in and 60x60in. Limited edition signed print by Guido Argentini. Guido Argentini was born in Florenc...
Archival Pigment
Eris and Night (Argentum by Guido Argentini)
By Guido Argentini
Located in New York City, NY
40x40in ed.18 Archival Pigment Print MOUNTED AND FRAMED Also available in 48x48in and 60x60in. Limited edition signed print by Guido Argentini. Guido Argentini was born in Florenc...
Archival Pigment
Aglauros & Herse
By Guido Argentini
Located in New York City, NY
40x40in ed.18 Archival Pigment Print MOUNTED AND FRAMED Also available in 48x48in and 60x60in. Limited edition signed print by Guido Argentini. Guido Argentini was born in Florenc...
Archival Pigment
$700
H 24 in W 18 in D 0.1 in
Untitled (Nr. 0423) Photography 24" x 18" Edition of 24 by Ben Cope
By Ben Cope
Located in Culver City, CA
Untitled (Nr. 0423) Photography 24" x 18" Edition of 24 by Ben Cope Signed and numbered by the artist. Unframed - ships rolled in a tube Ben Cope + Rowan Daly Off the Grid Off t...
Archival Pigment
Epona (Argentum by Guido Argentini)
By Guido Argentini
Located in New York City, NY
40x40in ed.18 Archival Pigment Print MOUNTED AND FRAMED Also available in 48x48in and 60x60in. Limited edition signed print by Guido Argentini. Guido Argentini was born in Florenc...
Archival Pigment
$1,350
H 36 in W 44 in D 0.1 in
Untitled (Nr. 0382) Black & White Photography 36" x 44" in Ed. of 12 by Ben Cope
By Ben Cope
Located in Culver City, CA
Untitled (Nr. 0382) Black & White Photography 36" x 44" in Ed. of 12 by Ben Cope Signed and numbered by the artist. Comes with COA issued by the artist. Unframed - ships rolled in a...
Archival Pigment
$3,006
H 13.78 in W 20.87 in D 0.08 in
Craig -Signed limited edition nude print, Black white Contemporary sleeping Man
By Ian Sanderson
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
An original signed archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Baryta 315 gsm paper by Scottish artist Ian Sanderson (1951- 2020) titled ‘ Craig ‘ who was captured on film in 199...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment, Photographic Film, Black and White, Pi...
$3,607
H 29.53 in W 19.89 in D 0.08 in
Franci - Signed limited edition still life portrait print, Sensual, Contemporary
By Ian Sanderson
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Franci - Signed limited edition archival pigment print - Edition of 5 This image was captured on film in 1986. The negative was scanned creating a digital file which was then prin...
Archival Paper, Black and White, Archival Pigment, Photographic Film, Pi...
Eos (Argentum by Guido Argentini)
By Guido Argentini
Located in New York City, NY
40x40in ed.18 Archival Pigment Print MOUNTED AND FRAMED Also available in 48x48in and 60x60in. Limited edition signed print by Guido Argentini. Guido Argentini was born in Florenc...
Archival Pigment
Pink Legs II
By Leandro Franco
Located in New York City, NY
Leandro Franco Pink Legs II, 2020 48 x 40 inches 120 x 100 cm Archival Pigment Print Edition of 13 UnFramed Fashion Photography - Portrait - Black and white
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Pink Legs I
By Leandro Franco
Located in New York City, NY
Leandro Franco Pink Legs I, 2020 48 x 40 inches 120 x 100 cm Archival Pigment Print Edition of 13 UnFramed Fashion Photography - Portrait - Black and white
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Emma in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, April 1984
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Emma in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, 1984 Pão de Açucar, (Sugarloaf Mountain), Rio’s defining landmark looms in the background. Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 28" x 28.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 15 Certificate of Origin Signed and titled by the photographer in edition and emboss-stamped in the margin Applicable providence, printing and edition notes along with copyright stamp on verso Strictly Archival Print, processed at the photographer's studio on 100% cotton rag paper and varnished to further increase longevity/resilience, tested @ 250 years equivalent UV exposure Print cost includes wrapping/packing/crating for shipment in double-tubing. ______ Jonathan Becker (Steven Kasher Gallery bio by Mark Rozzo) Literate flair, acute visual intuition, love of mischief and spontaneity, and global wanderlust: These are among the hallmarks of the work of Jonathan Becker, whose photography spans four decades and includes iconic portraits (often for Vanity Fair) of a multiplicity of subjects, including Robert Mapplethorpe, Martha Graham, Madonna, Elia Kazan, Prince Charles, Eudora Welty...
Archival Pigment
Sold
H 14.5 in W 14 in
Elaine's Kitchen - Saturday Night Live, New York, January 1976
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Elaine's Kitchen - Saturday Night Live • Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi & Lorne Michaels, New York, January 1976 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 14" x 14.5" Pla...
Platinum
Ai Weiwei in his studio, Beijing, 12 May 2007
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Ai Weiwei in his studio, Beijing, 12 May 2007 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 14" x 14.5" Platinum & Palladium Print Edition Nº 1 of 6 Certificate of Origin Signed and ...
Platinum
Sold
H 18 in W 18 in
Jean-Michel Basquiat at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1 October 1985
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Jean-Michel Basquiat at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1 October 1985 X Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 18" x 18.5" Archival P...
Archival Pigment
Cindy Sherman in her New York Studio, 14 September 1993
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Cindy Sherman in her New York Studio, 14 September 1993 Backstage at Cindy Sherman’s studio in SoHo with paraphernalia, accoutrements of her work. P...
Archival Pigment
Saturday Night Live in Elaine's Kitchen, 1976
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Saturday Night Live in Elaine's Kitchen (Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi & Lorne Michaels), 1975 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contempora...
Archival Pigment