Now, over three decades since she started photographing, and as many of the young stars she first captured have become superstars, Kaune, Sudendorf Gallery celebrates Roxanne Lowit's incredible career in their current exhibition...
The backstage area of fashion shows is now a well-documented realm with photographers, film crew, journalists and bloggers all wanting in on some of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ action. However, this wasn’t always the case: "No one thought there was anything going on backstage,” explains New York-based photographer Roxanne Lowit, who used to get smuggled in by Jerry Hall and her other model friends in the late 1970s. “For years I was alone and loved it. I guess I made it look too good because now it’s so crowded with photographers.” Despite graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York with a degree in art history and textile design, Lowit soon found her place and career in fashion, preferring the immediacy of her 100 Instamatic for capturing sitters over painting. As the years went on, Lowit steadfastly made a name for herself photographing fashion’s elite – whether it be at shows or on nights out – becoming as much of a celebrity as those she photographed. Ranging from Salvador Dali to Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yves Saint Laurent, Madonna, Kate Moss and John Galliano, the list of glitterati Lowit captured is endless, many of which also feature in her notable books: Moments (1990), People (2001) and Backstage Dior (2009).
With previous exhibitions at The Metropolitan Musuem of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and London’s V&A Museum; shoots in American, French, Italian and German Vogue, Vanity Fair and Tatler; and advertising work with Emporio Armani, Vivienne Westwood and Dior – Lowit is not only a prolific photographer but also a celebrated image-maker globally. Now, over three decades since she started photographing, and as many of the young stars she first captured have become superstars, Kaune, Sudendorf Gallery celebrates Lowit's incredible career in their current exhibiton, Roxanne Lowit: Legendary Privacy, New York 1979-1999. As a spokesperson for the gallery perfectly explains, “She is the Grand Dame of celebrity and backstage photography.”
Roxanne Lowit: Legendary Privacy, New York 1979-1999 at Kaune, Sudendorf Gallery, Cologne runs until September 3.
Text by Lucia Davies