The Harvey Weinstein effect: fashion bans photographer Terry Richardson

In a post Harvey Weinstein world, the creative industries are taking the wake-up call to sexual harassment and abuses seriously, with Condé Nast being the first to take public action, banning fashion photographer Terry Richardson from all future shoots. Brands including Valentino and Bulgari followed suit, stating they will no longer commission the photographer for their campaigns.

The controversial Vogue photographer, famed for his sexual explicit photographs, made his shoots as illicit behind the lens as they were in front. A torrent of horror stories from young female models, and most recently by actress Lupita Nyong’o, who were inappropriately treated by Richardson can by found by a single Google click, yet the photographer remained at liberty to continue his editorial and advertising projects unhindered, celebrated by the industry at large for his sexy take on fashion.

London’s Daily Telegraph was the first to report the news, confirming James Woolhouse, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Condé Nast International, sent an internal email to the company’s global presidents instructing them to stop collaborating with Richardson. American Vogue previously stopped working with Richardson in 2010, but Paris Vogue and other titles kept the photographer on their books. Most recently Richardson photographed the cover for W magazine’s September issue, which counts British stylist Katie Grand as its Contributing Fashion Creative Director.

Woolhouse’s email stated:

“I am writing to you on an important matter. Condé Nast would like to no longer work with the photographer Terry Richardson.

Any shoots that have been commission[ed] or any shoots that have been completed but not yet published, should be killed and substituted with other material.

Please could you confirm that this policy will be actioned in your market effective immediately. Thank you for your support in this matter.”

Richardson’s louche behaviour has been as widely documented as it has been quietly tolerated by luxury brands, magazines, modeling agencies, casting directors and stylists. A 2014 article in the New York Magazine titled “Is Terry Richardson an Artist or a Predator?” may have let the cat out of the bag, but did nothing to deter his career or prevent future accounts of abuse.

Sexual imagery is a part of photography

At the time Richardson responded in the Huffington Post: “Like Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton and so many others before me, sexual imagery has always been a part of my photography,” wrote Richardson at the time on the Huffington Post. “I have never used an offer of work or a threat of rebuke to coerce someone into something that they did not want to do.”

A representative for Richardson told the Telegraph: “He is an artist who has been known for his sexually explicit work so many of his professional interactions with subjects were sexual and explicit in nature but all of the subjects of his work participated consensually,” a representative for Richardson told the Telegraph on Tuesday. “Terry is disappointed to hear about this [Conde Nast International] email especially because he has previously addressed these old stories.”

As the Business of Fashion on Wednesday stated, “following the avalanche of allegations against major Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein from over a fifty actresses and concerns around negative PR fallout and whether brands and magazines could perhaps be held legally liable for job-related sexual harassment, the fashion industry establishment, which long turned a blind eye to Richardson’s behaviour, suddenly appears to be taking a harder line.”

Photo credit:Terry’s Diary online