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.
On the Sofa at the Real Dolls Factory, San Diego, 19 February 2015
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
On the Sofa at the Real Dolls Factory, San Diego, 19 February 2015 Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 9 Certificate of O...
Archival Pigment
At the Real Dolls Factory, San Diego, 19 February 2015
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
At the Real Dolls Factory, 19 February 2015 Portrait of a sex doll crated for shipment to a client. The Real Dolls brand sat at the high-end of the trade, p...
Archival Pigment
Liu Ye in his studio with muse, Beijing, 16 May 2007
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Liu Ye in his studio with muse, Beijing, 16 May 2007 X Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 44" x 44.5" Archival Pigment Print Edition Nº 1 of 9 Cert...
Archival Pigment
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
Linda Hutton in the attic tub, Southampton, August 1974
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Linda Hutton in the attic tub, Southampton, August 1974 X Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary 16" x 16.5" Archival Platinum/Palladium Print Edition Nº 1 of 6 Certificate o...
Platinum
Villa Cetinale, Siena, Italy, May 2012
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Villa Cetinale, Siena, Italy, May 2012 A moment at a storied property where centuries of history pile on Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary ...
Platinum
L'ascension, Paris
By Sonia Sieff
Located in München, BY
Edition of 7 Also available in 73 x 100 cm / 28.7 x 43.3 in, Edition of 3, price on request A very beautiful and naked woman is stepping up a circular staircase in an apartment in P...
Archival Pigment
$3,002
H 20.48 in W 13.78 in D 0.08 in
Charlotte-Signed limited edition fine art print, Black and white photo, Sexy
By Ian Sanderson
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Charlotte - Signed limited edition archival pigment print, Edition of 5 This is an Archival Pigment print on fiber based paper ( Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Baryta 315 gsm , Acid- and lig...
Archival Paper, Black and White, Giclée, Archival Pigment, Pigment, Phot...
Tree Farm, Long Lane, East Hampton, NY, 1999
By Robin Rice
Located in Hudson, NY
Edition 7 of 25 After 30 years on West 11th Street, The Robin Rice Gallery celebrates its first ever exhibition for Robin Rice. For decades, Robin has exhibited a wide variety of photographers at the gallery but never her own work. As the show’s title denotes, “It’s About Time.” The opening reception will be held on Wednesday, January 23rd from 6pm to 8pm. The exhibit runs through March 17, 2019. While her photography spans five decades and multiple continents, Rice maintains a cohesive, candid voice that carries throughout all of her work. Observing the world around her in a cinematic way, she possesses an uncanny ability to recognize and capture moments of beauty and the spontaneity of the human spirit. By evoking a wonderstruck sensibility, Rice expresses a deep-rooted love for both people and landscapes using her distinct bohemian style. In this salon-style retrospective, Rice uses an “old school” approach and shoots with her Nikon on Tri-X film. When creating her art, she insists, “the camera has a mind of its own.” The scenes captured in her photography are unedited and thus born purely from the magic of the in-camera composition. In the invitational image, “Tree Farm...
Archival Pigment
$2,281
H 27.56 in W 34.26 in D 0.08 in
Saddle, Whip, Nude-Signed limited edition nude fine art print, Contemporary
By Peter Ridge
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Saddle, Whip, Nude- Signed limited edition archival pigment print, Edition of 5 This is an Archival Pigment print on fiber based paper ( Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Baryta 315 gsm , Ac...
Archival Paper, Black and White, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment
$3,100
H 38 in W 47 in D 0.1 in
"La tête" Nude Art Print 38" x 47" inch Edition of 15 by Yevgeniy Repiashenko
By Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Located in Culver City, CA
"La tête" Nude Art Print 38" x 47" inch Edition of 15 by Yevgeniy Repiashenko Year photo was taken: 2014 Art Print Limited Edition of 15 Picture size: Height: 38" inch Width: 47" i...
Archival Pigment
$3,110Sale Price|30% Off
H 29.13 in W 40 in D 0.02 in
Katia - Figurative photo, Nude fine art print, Contemporary black white Analogue
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 ‘ Katia ‘ who was captured on film in 20...
Archival Paper, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Black and White, ...
$1,950
H 20 in W 16 in D 0.1 in
"Hallowed Ground" Nude Photography 20" x 16" in Ed. 1/15 by Aaron Mcpolin
By Aaron McPolin
Located in Culver City, CA
"Hallowed Ground" Nude Photography 20" x 16" in Ed. 1/15 by Aaron Mcpolin Archival Giclee Print NOT framed. Ships in a tube. Signed and numbered by the artist. Comes with COA i...
Archival Pigment
$2,950
H 24 in W 36 in D 0.1 in
"Between You" Black & White Photography 24" x 36" in Ed. 1/7 by Aaron Mcpolin
By Aaron McPolin
Located in Culver City, CA
"Between You" Black & White Photography 24" x 36" in Ed. 1/7 by Aaron Mcpolin Archival Giclee Print & Museum Framed Signed and numbered by the artist. Comes with COA issued ...
Archival Pigment
$2,882Sale Price|20% Off
H 30.31 in W 40 in D 0.02 in
Francesca - Signed limited edition nude print, Black white, Contemporary woman
By Ian Sanderson
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Francesca - 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 ...
Black and White, Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Giclée, Archival...
$1,950
H 36 in W 24 in D 0.1 in
"Lira" Nude Photography 36" x 24" in Ed. of 25 by Yevgeniy Repiashenko
By Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Located in Culver City, CA
"Lira" Nude Photography 36" x 24" in Ed. of 25 by Yevgeniy Repiashenko Year photo was taken: 2019 Art Print Limited Edition of 25 Picture size: Height: 36" inch Width: 24" inch T...
Archival Pigment
$3,100
H 32 in W 47 in D 0.1 in
"Adventure" Nude Photography 32" x 47" in Ed. of 15 by Yevgeniy Repiashenko
By Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Located in Culver City, CA
"Adventure" Nude Photography 32" x 47" in Ed. of 15 by Yevgeniy Repiashenko Year photo was taken: 2013 Art Print Limited Edition of 15 Picture size: Height: 32" inch Width: 47" inc...
Archival Pigment
Cai by Markus Klinko
By Markus Klinko
Located in Austin, TX
Museum quality fine art print of Cai by photographer Markus Klinko in 2000 in New York. This print is available in the following sizes, signed and numbered by Markus Klinko 24" high...
C Print
Villa Cetinale, Siena, Italy, May 2012
By Jonathan Becker
Located in New York, NY
Villa Cetinale, Siena, Italy, May 2012 A moment at a storied property where centuries of history pile on Photographed by Jonathan Becker Contemporary ...
Platinum