Paolo Roversi, the Paris-based photographer celebrated for his ethereal and romantically haunting images, is presenting a comprehensive retrospective of his distinguished career at Pace Gallery in New York. The exhibition, titled "Along the Way," runs from September 12 to October 25 and features more than 30 captivating images spanning from the 1990s to the present day.
This marks a rare opportunity for American audiences to experience Roversi's mesmerizing work up close, as the Italian-born photographer has had limited exposure in the United States. His photographs possess a unique quality that seems to hover in an otherworldly space between past and present, capturing something magical in every frame. The exhibition showcases his painterly approach to photographing renowned models including Stella Tennant, Guinevere Van Seenus, Natalia Vodianova, and Kirsten Owen, as well as his collaborations with prestigious fashion houses such as Comme des Garçons, Christian Dior, Maison Margiela, and John Galliano.
"I had a show in Dallas maybe two years ago, and I've had one or two at Pace before," Roversi said from his Paris studio. "I hope that this show will help me to be a little more known in America." This characteristically modest response reflects the photographer's unassuming nature, despite his revered status in the fashion photography world. His star shines brightest outside the United States, where his quintessentially European aesthetic has found its most appreciative audience.
"Along the Way" reveals a body of work so distinctly European that it could only have emerged from the continent that produced legendary photographers like Nadar, Brassaï, and Man Ray. Roversi's journey to Paris mirrors that of Man Ray, as both artists found their spiritual and aesthetic home in the French capital. The Italian photographer, originally from Ravenna, adopted Paris as his creative sanctuary much like his American predecessor.
Roversi's career path was influenced by advice from photographer Guy Bourdin, who once warned him: "Don't go to work in New York—it's the cemetery of photography." Roversi laughed when recounting this memory, adding, "His words, not mine." The specifically American approach of mining creativity primarily for commercial value clearly didn't appeal to Bourdin, and perhaps not entirely to Roversi either. "I've mostly worked for European magazines," he explained, adding with characteristic understatement that this situation represents "more a case of your loss, not mine."
Now 77 years old, Roversi began his photographic journey six decades ago when The Associated Press commissioned him to cover Ezra Pound's funeral in Venice in 1970. This assignment proved fitting for a young man who loved reading poetry and continues to do so today. His transition into fashion photography happened gradually through connections with friends like designer Popy Moreni and stylist Claude Brouet, who worked at Marie Claire magazine before moving to Hermès. "It happened gradually," Roversi reflected on his move into fashion. "And what inspired me was seeing that it was then this very creative world which was inspiring because of its freedom."
Roversi's early career was shaped by his apprenticeship with British fashion photographer Laurence Sackman, whom he credits as "the master of the ring flash" and acknowledges learning significantly from. This was during the era dominated by photographers like Helmut Newton, Sarah Moon, Deborah Turbeville, and the aforementioned Bourdin. Rather than following their lead with sexually charged images or capturing the newly liberated independence of the decade, Roversi chose a different path. He used the period's creative freedom to explore inward, seeking an outward expression of his unique vision. "I try to be sincere and honest with myself to do something different," he explained, "and to work with my heart as much as my camera."
What distinguishes Roversi's fashion work is his unwavering focus on the people he photographs. "For me, fashion photography is portrait photography," he emphasized, "and it's a double portrait: a portrait of the person, and a portrait of the dress they're wearing. And I was always looking for models who would inspire me to say something different." While he loved photographing Kate Moss, it was models like Kirsten Owen and Stella Tennant who consistently moved him to create his most compelling work. "I think of them as friendships," he said. "That's very important."
Throughout his extensive career, there have been moments when his aesthetic might not have perfectly aligned with fashion's direction, but Roversi gracefully sidesteps such concerns. "I always say that the designer is the one who writes the music," he explained, "and I just play it. I'm just the interpreter." Among his favorite collaborators, he singles out Comme des Garçons and John Galliano. "Comme [des Garçons] and [John] Galliano are my favorites, though there are others I like, too. But Comme—it's always so creative, so poetic, and it always stimulates me to do something different, to go somewhere I've not gone before."
Roversi's work demands greater attention because it doesn't trade in uncomplicated directness or immediacy. Instead, its purpose is to capture viewers with its beauty and allow that beauty to haunt their minds long after viewing. He has never been interested in playing the celebrity photographer to further his career. "It's not really my character," he admitted. "I'm more of a private person. I like to work in my studio, in the corner."
At this stage of his distinguished career, there's little Roversi hasn't accomplished, though he remains selective about his subjects. He's particularly uninterested in photographing celebrities, explaining that "They arrive at the studio with their personality already in place, and they begin to act for me, in the same way they work with a script. In my story, it's an empty stage—no text, no script, nothing—and that's more difficult." However, he did capture an unexpected and unrehearsed side of Miley Cyrus for a recent Maison Margiela campaign, an image included in "Along the Way."
When asked whom he'd like to photograph that he hasn't yet, Roversi's answer is both startling and perfectly in character: "I believe in angels, so maybe an angel." This hypothetical subject would embody so much of his work—ethereality made corporeal, and vice versa. "It could be someone I just see one day," he mused. "Sometimes I'll be walking down the street and I'll suddenly think, 'Oh—I would love to take a picture of that face.'" This sentiment perfectly encapsulates Roversi's approach to photography: finding the magical and transcendent in the everyday, transforming ordinary moments into something timelessly beautiful.
