Legendary Fashion Photographer Peter Lindbergh has Passed Away

 The fashion world is in mourning today as news of Peter Lindbergh’s death was confirmed overnight. The legendary photographer was 74 years old. 

In a post on his official Instagram page, a message read, “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Peter Lindbergh on September 3rd 2019, at the age of 74. He is survived by his wife Petra, his first wife Astrid, his four sons Benjamin, Jeremy, Simon, Joseph, and seven grandchildren. He leaves a big void.” 

Many in the industry commented on the post with broken heart emojis including Karlie Kloss, Shanina Shaik, Eva Chen, Natalia Vodianova, Linda Evangelista and Giovanna Bataglia. 

Lindbergh, who was born in Germany, photographed some of the world’s most famous faces across his multi-decade career, including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Rihanna. He is known for his minimalist black-and-white imagery, and for photographing models in a natural way. He was famously against retouching, preferring to portray his subjects with little makeup to allow their own beauty to shine through. After shooting the Pirelli calendar in 2017 (marking his third time shooting the annual calendar – the only photographer in its 50 year history to be given the honour), he said, “My aim was to portray women in a different way. As an artist, I feel I’m responsible for freeing women from the idea of eternal youth and perfection. The ideal of perfect beauty promoted by society is something that simply can’t be attained.”

Most recently, Lindbergh shot the 15 women featured on the September issue cover of British Vogue, which was guest edited by the Duchess of Sussex. In an interview for the issue he echoed the above sentiment saying, “I hate retouching, I hate make-up. I always say, ‘Take the make-up off!'”

One of his most iconic covers was also for the title, back in 1990, when he shot Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Tatjana Patitz and Christy Turlington. Across his career he also shot covers for Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue US, Vanity Fair and more. 

Lindbergh was beloved in the industry for his gentle spirit and kindness, traits he will undoubtedly be remembered by. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this time.