A trained art restorer and selftaught photographer, Michel Comte sprung to prominence in 1979 with his first advertising commission for Karl Lagerfeldas fashion label ChloA(c).

One of the top names in fashion and magazine photography, his work has appeared in Vanity
Fair and Vogue. His subjects from the realms of art, music and entertainment include Sharon Stone, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Mike Tyson, and Carla Bruni. With a selection of Comteas most iconic images as well as some previously
unpublished photographs, this massive volume spans his entire three-decade career.

Chapters cover portraits, fashion and advertising spreads, nudes, candid paparazzi shots, as well as a series of photographs taken in Comteas favorite hotel room in the Paris Ritz! This versatile maestro has also focused his talents on documentary projects in Tibet, Afghanistan, Haiti, Cuba, and Bosnia.

“Not Only Women” is the title of a photographic exhibition by Michel Comte currently on display at Lu.C.C.A., the Lucca Center of Contemporary Art. A main event in the Lu.C.C.A. calendar and a highlight exhibition of the Lucca Digital Photo Fest, the exhibition features approximately sixty images by one of the greatest contemporary photographers.

The “Not only Women” exhibition suggests a different concept of fashion photography, through a striking gallery of female pictures. Some of the most significant nudes and portraits of models, actresses and artists that Comte has taken throughout his career are on show. Among others: Verushka, Iman, Claudia Schiffer, Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford, Carla Bruni, Laetitia Casta, Giselle Bündchen, Sophia Coppola, Catherine Deneuve, Isabella Rossellini, Sharon Stone, Sophia Loren, Charlotte Rampling, Geraldine Chaplin, Tina Turner and Whitney Houston.

Foreword by Mario Testino

Exclusive essay by Kate Moss

Over 100 images in black-and-white and color, including many unseen private photographs

Not for everybody, be forewarned. If you have seen Terry’s work before and find yourself craving a high dosage of trashy, sexually explicit and raw photography, this ones for you babe. Suck it in, and puke it up into the air while laying on your back, and let your own metaphorical vomit shower your filthy nude inner workings.

Porn stars, supermodels, transsexuals, hillbillies, friends, pets, and celebrities all do for his lens what they’ll do for no other. And if anyone ever wonders why they did it, just blame it on Terryworld, where taboos are null and void, and fashion finds sex a perfect fit.

I really don’t know any other contemporary photographers working at this high a level of technique, high end fashion, and conceptualization all at the same time

Book Review

“A visual feast by the groundbreaking British fashion photographer Nick Knight. The book features collaborative work with Björk, Gareth Pugh and Massive Attack, and memorable editorial shoots from Vogue.” (The Independent (UK), “One of the Top Ten Fashion Books of the Year” )