Patrick Cariou

Patrick Cariou is a French artist and photographer, known for his work in the fields of Fine art photography and Documentary photography, similar to Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa. His photographs have been exhibited in various galleries and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Cariou's work has been influenced by the styles of Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange, and he has been compared to other notable photographers such as Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton. His artistic approach is also reminiscent of the Dada movement and the works of Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray.

● Early Life and Education

Patrick Cariou was born in France and grew up in a family of artists, including his father, who was a Surrealist painter, and his mother, who was a Fashion designer and worked with Coco Chanel and Christian Dior. Cariou's early life was marked by exposure to the works of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, which would later influence his own artistic style. He studied Photography at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was taught by Bill Brandt and Brassaï. Cariou's education also involved studying the works of André Kertész and Eugène Atget, which helped shape his approach to photography.

● Career

Cariou's career as a photographer began in the 1970s, when he started working with Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, photographing models such as Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. He also worked with Fashion designers like Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld, capturing their designs on film. Cariou's photographs have been featured in various publications, including The New York Times and Le Monde, and he has exhibited his work at galleries such as the Gagosian Gallery and the Tate Modern. His career has been marked by collaborations with other artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, and he has been influenced by the Pop art movement.

● Artistic Style and Works

Cariou's artistic style is characterized by his use of Black and white photography and his focus on capturing the beauty of the human form, similar to the works of Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham. His photographs often feature Nudes and Portraits, and he has been praised for his ability to capture the essence of his subjects, much like August Sander and Diane Arbus. Cariou's work has been compared to that of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, and he has been influenced by the Bauhaus movement and the works of László Moholy-Nagy and Wassily Kandinsky. His photographs have also been featured in various Coffee table books, including those published by Taschen and Phaidon Press.

● Controversy and Lawsuits

In 2010, Cariou was involved in a lawsuit with Richard Prince, an Appropriation artist who had used Cariou's photographs without permission in his own work, New Portraits. The lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, claimed that Prince had infringed on Cariou's Copyright and sought damages. The case was eventually settled out of court, with Prince agreeing to pay Cariou an undisclosed amount. The lawsuit drew attention to the issue of Copyright infringement in the art world and sparked a debate about the use of Appropriation art, with artists such as Sherrie Levine and Barbara Kruger weighing in on the issue.

● Legacy and Impact

Cariou's legacy as a photographer is marked by his contributions to the field of Fine art photography and his influence on other artists, including Cindy Sherman and Andreas Gursky. His work has been recognized with various awards, including the Prix Nadar and the Grand Prix National de la Photographie. Cariou's photographs are held in the collections of various museums, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Centre Pompidou, and he has been the subject of numerous exhibitions and retrospectives, including those at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume and the International Center of Photography. His impact on the art world has been significant, and he continues to be celebrated as one of the most important photographers of his generation, alongside Annie Leibovitz and Martin Parr.