Terry Richardson

Biography

An American portrait and fashion photographer, Terry Richardson was born in 1965 in New York City. Richardson was raised in Hollywood, California and went to Hollywood High School. As a teenager, he was shy and lacked socialization skills. He was the bass guitarist for five years in The Invisible Government, a punk rock band. It was in high school that Terry Richardson found photography. Terry Richardson’s work revolves around repetitive themes including celebrities, sexual ideas, nudity and unusual humor. Initially, his subjects were photographed with a white background however gradually he began using different backdrops. Apart from photographing his subjects, he poses with them in many pictures as well. In some pictures he lends his glasses to his subjects so they could pose pretending to be him and he could pose like them. He has had a lucrative career however one thing that resulted in him being a target of hostility by the fashion industry and otherwise was simply his use of sex in the name of art and photography. Terry Richardson was interviewed on July 24, 2005 in New York City.