Markus Klinko
Photographing David Bowie
Markus Klinko first met David Bowie in 2001, and their first session together resulted in the cover photograph for his 2002 album, Heathen. Further sessions followed including an incredible series of images shot in 2002 for GQ of David with wild wolves. Markus worked with him again in 2013, directing the video for his single “Valentine’s Day.”
It all started in Spring 2001, when Markus Klinko was asked by Iman to shoot the cover of her book, I am Iman. Markus remembers: “A couple days after the shoot, Iman returned to the studio to take a look over the edits with me, and to my great surprise, David Bowie came along to help choose the cover of the book. He was every bit as charismatic and extraordinary as one can imagine, but really kind and lovely to talk to. David was very involved in the selection process and had a great eye for imagery. Both of them loved the photos. During the editing session, David casually mentioned that he might be working on a new album and that perhaps he would call me to talk about shooting the cover for it. That sounded a bit too good to be true, and while I was hopeful that this could happen, I did not get my hopes up too high.”
“Meanwhile, the terrible events of 9/11 took place less than a mile from my studio, and for a little while I even forgot about the prospects of shooting my first David Bowie album cover. Yet, a few weeks after the tragedy, true to his word, Bowie called me. He is one of the very few celebrities that I have worked with who personally got involved, and was extremely communicative and very hands-on in the process. He asked if I could come over to a Broadway recording studio and listen to some tracks. I went over the next day. I wandered around the old, understated recording studio to find Bowie and his producer, Tony Visconti, in one of the rooms. Bowie said that wanted to play some of the new songs for me before discussing the album art. The mental image of Bowie sitting by a window, smoking cigarettes while his producer played the rough mixes from the board, is a memory that I could never forget. After listening to almost the entire album together, we started talking about the shoot. He had many ideas and was very precise about them.”
“David was very eager to get it all set up as quickly as possible and to shoot within a couple days. He returned to my studio the next day, and brought a series of early Man Ray images that he was very interested in referencing in some way or another. He wanted to be styled in Forties’s suits and wanted to get into the character of a blind man. At that time, most of my work was very colorful, but David was profoundly visionary and believed that it would be interesting for me to produce a series of mainly black and white album images, as well as some color images for press.”
Markus Klinko’s signed photographs are available to purchase in a range of physical sizes. Scroll down the page to view the collection. By clicking on the green button under each image you will see price and size options. We have also created a virtual space where you can view a selection of Markus’s photographs framed and hanging on the walls in a gallery setting. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions.
Visit the virtual gallery
Click on the green button below to view our beautiful virtual gallery featuring a selection of Markus’s images, framed and on display.
This isn’t a replica of our physical gallery space—far from it. It is a gallery that we have designed from scratch and that only exists in the virtual world. The space consists of three elements: a large central room with high ceilings and white walls, a mezzanine floor accessed by a spiral staircase, and a smaller, more personal viewing room with a feature brick wall. You can navigate around the space simply, and click on individual artworks to view price and size information.I hope you enjoy experiencing the virtual collection.
The limited editions
Heathen session
David and the wolves
The GQ Men of the Year shoot (2002)
Markus reflects on the background to the GQ sessions: “Heathen was released in 2002, and Bowie went on tour to promote the album. Around that time, I got a call from GQ in London, asking me to shoot David for their prestigious “Men of the Year” cover. Since Bowie was busy with the tour and was not available for a shoot within the deadline for the magazine, a creative solution had to be found.”
“I called up to David and asked him if he would trust me with creating a series of complex photocompositions, using a body double and several wild wolves. He immediately loved that idea, and said that I had carte blanche. My agent called the modeling agencies, and I decided on a young guy who had very much the stature and body shape of Bowie.”
“Next, I needed to find a bunch of wild wolves and get them to my Soho studio. Luckily, a prominent handler of wild animals for film and photo shoots was a huge David Bowie fan and agreed to bring the gorgeous beasts to New York. Our male model proved himself quite brave, as he worked it with the energetic and sometimes aggressive wolves. While his face looked nothing like Bowie, he was able to channel him through his body language. The images of David from the Heathen session and the shots of the body model and wolves were later combined by my post-production studio and have since become a favorite in GQ’s iconic history.”
“He is one of the most photogenic stars ever, and almost every single shot looked incredible. Bowie knew exactly what poses and expressions to do in order to portray the character we discussed. He was very carefree and fun to shoot. David often came by the studio to select and edit the photos. One day, he stopped by while I was shooting a British GQ editorial with a lot of male and female models running around in towels and he said, “This reminds me of the Seventies! And I remember nothing from the Seventies…” and then he laughed.”
Markus Klinko
Other subjects
Markus Klinko
Markus Klinko is an award-winning, international fashion/celebrity photographer and director, who has worked with many of today’s most iconic stars of film, music, and fashion.
Klinko has photographed David Bowie, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Anne Hathaway, Kate Winslet, Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kim Kardashian, Naomi Campbell, and Iman. His editorial clients include Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, and Interview magazine. Brands such as Lancôme, L’Oréal Paris, Nike, Hugo Boss, Anna Sui, Pepsi, Skyy Vodka, and Remy Martin have hired Klinko to create advertising campaigns. His campaign for Keep A Child Alive raised over one million dollars for children with AIDS in just 3 days.
Born in Switzerland of French, Italian, Jewish, and Hungarian descent, Klinko spent his early years training to become a classical harp soloist. He studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. Later, Klinko signed an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics, as well as a management contract with Columbia Artists Management. He received the Grand Prix de Disque for his recording of French harp music, with members of the orchestra of the Paris Opera Bastille. Klinko performed in recitals and as a featured soloist with symphony orchestras around the world. He was also regularly featured in such publications as Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, GQ, The New York Times, Madame Figaro, Stereo Review, and Ongaku no Tomo.
After a hand injury, Klinko decided to become a fashion photographer and retired from his international concert and recording career. During that time, he met Indrani, who later became a regular collaborator in her role as his studio’s digital post production artist and photo editor. Isabella Blow discovered Klinko’s work while at the London Sunday Times and commissioned cover stories from the emerging photographer. Around the same time, Ingrid Sischy, at Interview magazine hired Klinko for various shoots. Iman and David Bowie followed, giving the up and coming photographer a chance to photograph them for their respective book (I am Iman) and album covers (Heathen).
From there, he went on to create some of the most iconic album covers of his time, including Beyonce’s Dangerously in Love, and Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi. Klinko has appeared on E! News, Access Hollywood, Fashion Television, CNN’s Showbiz Tonight and Larry King Live and has been the subject of the reality show Double Exposure on the Bravo network.
Many of Klinko’s famous celebrity photographs can be seen in his coffee table book ICONS (Perseus).
Markus Klinko
