5 reasons I love Peter Lindberg
Peter Lindberg was a genius photographer. He’s one of my greatest inspirations. Not just because he created stunning images but also because of his attitude and approach to photographing women. As a portrait photographer, I find this side of his work especially fascinating. In this post I thought I’d try to capture some personal thoughts about this great man.
An incredible photographer with a wonderful talent, he believed in celebrating the woman herself, not some idealised view of that woman. He passionately persisted with this vision until his very sad and untimely passing in September 2019.
So here are my 5 reasons I love Peter Lindbergh…
The beauty of simplicity -
all his photographs are beautiful, and you could be forgiven for thinking that many of them are simple, not a lot of bells and whistles with his work. But his portraits are far from simple. It’s that thing where it’s actually incredibly difficult and challenging to make things look so simple. I think they’re made more beautiful because they’re so pared back and the subject truly takes centre stage.
Black and white -
he loved black and white and wasn’t afraid of shooting a lot of his fashion and portrait work in black and white. I have always been drawn to the beauty of black and white and used to develop and print my own work. Black and white strips back everything to some basic fundamentals and shows a simple, clean, uncluttered picture. In portraiture, I feel as though this allows the soul of the subject to shine through.
”Although man perceives the real world in color, for me black and white has always been linked to the deep truth of the image, to its most secret meaning”
Peter Lindberg
Getting to the real person -
there is no doubt that Peter Lindbergh got to photograph beautiful and often famous women. But the WAY he photographed them was unique. Rather than focus on their beauty, he wanted to tell the story of them as people. He dug deeper and went beyond the superficial. His 2017 Pirelli calendar was filled with famous women, photographed very simply. The beauty in that honesty, combined with his talent to connect with his subject, created very revealing and haunting portraits.
All women are beautiful -
he believed in the beauty of every woman. Strong and independent, yet also sensitive and vulnerable, “real” and “honest” in fact. He fought hard against what he called “the terror of perfection and youth”. I feel equally strongly about my mission to show women that we are beautiful just as we are.
“What is merely beautiful has always bored me, I’m interested in what is powerful and real. There's something else that makes a woman interesting, something beyond being young or being old”
Peter Lindberg
Passion and emotion -
Lindbergh was not afraid to tease out real and raw emotion from his subjects. He encouraged them to bring out their true personality rather than the facade that actors and models are more used to presenting to the public. He encouraged women to show their personality and to have confidence in who they are, rather than the idealised image they sometimes portray. He achieved these unique perspectives of famous women by building strong relationships with them.
"I think I know him so well, so there is an enormous sense of trust involved and friendship there, and that's very, very powerful"
Nicole Kidman
Peter’s legacy will no doubt live on for generations. So many have been inspired by his honest approach and while nobody will ever be able to match his unique style (and nor should they try!) it is possible to see his artistry and strong viewpoint influencing many photographers, including myself
I’ll finish this post with a Lindberg quote that I absolutely love…
“If photographers are responsible for creating or reflecting an image of women in society, then, I must say, there is only one way for the future, and this is to define women as strong and independent. This should be the responsibility of photographers today: to free women, and finally everyone, from the terror of youth and perfection”
Peter Lindberg
R xx
all images are created and owned by Peter Lindberg