ARTIST BIO & CV

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Steven Silverstein’s accomplished career photographing fashion and beauty spans over four decades, and, in 2013 while on an assignment, he made a discovery that led to creating experimental in-camera abstract photographs.

Silverstein studied fine art photography at Art Center College for a year in Los Angeles and after apprenticing, supported himself as a photographer for several years before moving to Paris in the 1970s. There, photographer Sarah Moon and and her husband, Robert Delpire, art publisher and former director of Galerie National du Jeu de Paume, saw his conceptual work and made an important introduction to pioneering art director Peter Knapp at French ELLE. It was the start of a long, successful career creating images for the highest levels of international fashion magazines and advertising.

Primarily based in Paris, and working in New York City, Los Angeles, and on location, his conceptual storytelling, lighting, and a graphic simplicity allows for an instant read, the images often drawing the viewer in for a closer look. In addition to Catherine Deneuve, Carol Bouquet, Charlotte Rampling, Isabelle Adjani, Isabelle Huppert, Charlize Theron, Eva Mendes, Thierry Mugler, Christian Lacroix, Tina Turner, and many other celebrities, he has photographed most of the supermodels and other top models from the 1970s-2000s for covers and fashion pages for ELLE, Vogue, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar and other international publications. Working with the best hair, makeup and styling teams, he has also shot campaigns for global mega-brands including Yves St. Laurent, Chanel, Ungaro, Givenchy, Carolina Herrera, L’Oreal, Maybelline, Max Factor, and Revlon, among dozens of others.

Silverstein’s photography has been exhibited and published in exhibition catalogues in Paris, New York, Montreal, Seville, Madrid, Turin, Los Angeles, Houston, Austin and Palm Springs, including the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Montreal), Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (Seville), La Venaria Reale - Reggia (Turin), CentroCentro (Madrid), and Museo de Arte y Costumbres Populares (Seville). Additionally, his work has been published in numerous retrospective books and held in private and corporate collections, as well as archives.

Media profiles include Nikon Pro Spotlight video, Nikon World magazine, PhotoArt magazine (cover), Zoom magazine (cover), Elle Decor, Vogue Living, Modernism, ShoutOut LA, and Palm Springs Life, among others. In addition to guest-lecturing at leading universities and art institutions, he was the creator/co-director of a photography mentorship program in Paris and Los Angeles for four years.

For more information about his abstract photography, visit his abstract website →