Excellent photographer–could shoot rings around that talentless hag Annie Lebowitz.
NEW YORK (AP) – Fashion photographer Francesco Scavullo, who shot covers for Cosmopolitan magazine for more than 30 years, died Tuesday morning of heart failure, his companion said. He was 81. Known for works ranging from enamel-on-canvas photo silkscreens to portraits of celebrities such as Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor, Scavullo was also recognized for his photographs of children. One of the most famous was his 1975 portrait of a young Brooke Shields.
Born Jan. 16, 1921, on Staten Island, Scavullo was one of five children whose father owned the old Central Park Casino. As a youth he got a job assisting the fashion photographer, Horst, and learned much of his craft from him. He later worked for Vogue and Seventeen magazines before launching a lucrative and lengthy career that included photographing covers for Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar and other magazines. At the peak of his career he commanded as much as $10,000 a sitting. “He was one of the most generous people I ever met in my life,” Byrne said. “He helped a lot of needy people and never mentioned it.”