Paolo Roversi

For the first time in its history, the Palais Galliera is devoting a monograph to a living photographer: Paolo Roversi.

Paolo Roversi was born in Italy but moved to Paris in 1973. Since then, he has worked for the most prestigious magazines, including Vogue France, Vogue Italia, Egoïste, and Luncheon. Throughout his career he has worked with the world’s leading fashion designers, most notably Yohji Yamamoto, Romeo Gigli and Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons.

Since his years as an apprentice, Roversi’s choice of studio, large-format cameras and Polaroid, too, have defined both his working methods and his aesthetic, although he has also successfully adapted to digital photography.His signature is instantly recognisable: soft, sepia-toned black and white, shot in natural light; a density and depth of colour achieved by using a Mag-Lite flashlight. Over the years, Paolo Roversi has explored and invented his own photographic language, accepting chance and accidents as opportunities to develop his style.

Catalogue under the direction of Sylvie Lécallier and Paolo Roversi.