Douglas Kirkland - Featured by Westwood Gallery
Title: "Mademoiselle Chanel at work, creating designs for the upcoming August collections." , 1962

Size: 20 x 24 inches (width x height)

Medium: Black & White Photograph Edition Size: edition of 24 Price: Contact Westwood Gallery Description: New York, NY -- In 1962, at the age of 27, Kirkland received an assignment from Look Magazine to photograph Chanel for a story on the legendary fashion icon. For a period of three weeks, Kirkland shadowed Mademoiselle Chanel capturing her intense schedule and daily routine with models, fitters, clients and friends. In order to gain her trust and approval, Chanel instructed Kirkland to initially photograph models wearing her collection and submit the prints for her review. Chanel was so taken with the young man and his photographic skill; she allowed him access to her private rooms, surveying her everyday movements. In addition to fashion images, Kirkland and Chanel took a day trip to Versailles resulting in surreal photographs of the ‘grande dame’ appropriately set in the royal gardens. Coco Chanel revolutionized women’s fashion with creations and style, including the ‘little black dress’, Chanel’s signature cardigan jacket, women’s casual wear, quilted handbags, short hairstyles, mixing real and costume jewelry, as well as Chanel No. 5, the world’s best selling perfume. Today, at 74 years old, Kirkland remembers with great fondness and admiration the days spent with Coco Chanel. His photographs provide a personal view of this extraordinary individual, the most influential fashion designer of the 20th century. The negatives of these photographs have been in the well-known photographer’s vault for the past 46 years, and represent a documentation of intimate and public moments of a woman who transformed 20 century fashion. Douglas Kirkland started his career in 1957 as an apprentice to photographer Irving Penn and was hired by Look Magazine as a photojournalist. Since then, he has completed scores of projects and books, and his fine art photographs have been widely exhibited worldwide, in both galleries and museums. In 2002 Kirkland was named ‘Photographer of the Year’ by PhotoImaging, Manufacturing and Distributor’s Association (PMDA). He is the recipient of the 2003 Lucie Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment Photography’, as well as receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Motion Picture Society of Operating Cameramen. In 2006 he was awarded The Golden Eye of Russia and also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from CAPIC in his native Toronto, Canada. In 2007, Douglas received an Honorary Master of Fine Arts Degree form Brooks Institute for his commitment and dedication to his profession. © 1962 Douglas Kirkland. Courtesy Westwood Gallery, NYC Exhibition History: Douglas Kirkland’s photographs have been on view and/or are in the collection of the following museums and institutions in the US and internationally: The Annenberg Space for Photography; Dayton Art Institute (Dayton, OH); Huntington Museum of Art (Huntington, WV); The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, (Halifax, Canada); Fine Arts Center Colorado Springs; Chicago Cultural Center; Saginaw Art Museum (Saginaw, MI); The Glenbow Museum (Calgary, Canada); The Winnipeg Art Gallery (Manitoba, Canada); Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, FL; The Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh, PA); Hallmark Museum of Contemporary Photography; the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the Museum of the Triennial in Milan; The Smithsonian; the National Portrait Gallery in London; Eastman House in Rochester; Ullens Center for Contemporary Art UCCA, Beijing; Muse'e d'art Moderne/Couvent des Cordeliers in Paris, the Galerie C/O in Berlin; the Metropolitan Museum of Photography (Tokyo); Gemeentemuseum of Den Haag (The Netherlands). Selected books include: Light Years, Redefining Beauty, Out of Africa, Portraits of a Film “Show Girls”, Icons, Legends, Body Stories, Woza Africa, James Cameron’s Titanic, Freeze Frame, Down with Love, An Evening with Marilyn, Chanel: Three Weeks, 1962, Mademoiselle (with a foreword by Karl Lagerfeld). "Titanic" was the first photography book to reach No.1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, both in hardcover and paperback.