Wilkosz & Way Blog: April 2011

Continuing on with our monthly inspiration series, we couldn't leave out the inspiring perfection of Richard Burbridge, an influential British fashion photographer. Unfortunately any biographical info on him was impossible to find, but guessing by some of his early work, he has been a staple of the fashion industry for some time now. He is an absolute genius with lighting, and whether it's commercial or editorial, we love all of his work.

Richard Burbridge was part of 90s fashion bible i-D, and shot some of my favourite covers for the magazine from 1999 to mid-2000s, has also brought his hyper technical lighting and perfectionism to The New York Times T Magazine, V Magazine and Italian Vogue. He is represented by Art + Commerce.

An excerpt from a hintmag.com interview from 2009 on working with i-D:

LC: In the last two years you've shot about a third of the i-D covers. That's helluva a lot for a magazine known for a gritty street style, not bowling ball-polished imagery like yours.

RB: I left London seven years ago and I worked for them then in bits and pieces, but it never really took off. Then they came to me with a pre-fab team. Amber Valletta was my first cover and I had never shot that kind of a girl before. One of the problems I had in starting a career in fashion photography was I wasn't prepared to shoot just any model. The girls who inspired me were the best, so I held off until I could get them.

It's definitely something I look forward to. We shoot the covers after other jobs that day, so it's an all-night shoot—Friday into Saturday morning, usually. With a great team, there's a lot of pressure to do great work because everybody's watching what everyone else is doing and is inspired by it. Or they'll wait to see what Pat [McGrath] does. I feel responsible to them as well, to make brilliant pictures.

Apart from his precise lighting, one of Burbridge's biggest strength is his collaboration with his hair and makeup team, these shots for Another Magazine just wouldn't have the same striking impact if it wasn't for them.

A beautiful series of black & white entitled Masks

Portraits for The New York Times, the lighting is so good here!

Fashion editorial for T Magazine (New York Times). Sometimes a little quirkiness can go a long way to make a memorable image.

Burbridge has also contributed countless photographs to Vogue Italia, and really shines in the Beauty section. There are countless editorials with stunning makeup and styling that just ooze perfection. It's shocking that in the above interview Burbridge states: "I have trouble liking my work. I'm always frustrated. Frustration is my driving force. But I do admire Steven Meisel and Mario Sorrenti"

Vogue Italia, January 2008