Photographer, publisher, and most recently film director; Rankin established his reputation when he launched Dazed & Confused with his business partner Jefferson Hack in 1991. Completely new in its approach, the magazine fused the pair’s editorial vision with Rankin’s photographic talents to present the faces of the time in a less mediated way. Right at the heart of London’s creative explosion that gave rise to the Britpop phenomenon with bands like Blur and Pulp and the accompanying fashion boom and stylists Katie Grand and Katy England and designers such as Alexander McQueen, who have gone on to dominate the industry, it is Rankin’s commitment to publishing some of the most ground-breaking magazines of his generation and his support for young photographers that has further earned him a reputation as a leading cultural and trend opinion former. As well as magazines Rankin has produced a string of highly successful exhibitions, ad campaigns and books. He has shot front covers for German Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Arena and GQ.
An infamous workaholic, Rankin has photographed subjects from Kate Moss to the Queen from Tony Blair to Oasis. Looking at his body of work it is also clear that celebrity holds little allure for him, some of his most outstanding images are from a series of nudes featuring ordinary people who answered an advert in Time Out asking how they would like to be photographed. He consistently seduces with his images, by drawing out individual personality, while considering and commenting on broader ideas.
Rising to every challenge, Rankin has never shied from portraying difficult subject matters, addressing issues from domestic violence to body image in both his personal work as well as charity and commercial projects. He made headlines again with his campaign for Dove showing women who differed from the usual stick-thin advertising stereotype. He has shot charity campaigns for Amnesty International, Everyman, Special Olympics, Refuge, Women’s Aid,The Teaching Awards, Women’s Aid, Women’s Vote, Breast Cancer Awareness and Youth Music.
Not content with still images, he has turned his lens to filmmaking. The short film he directed for Film Four, ‘Perfect’, was one of the few shorts shown at the Los Angeles, Raindance and Edinburgh film festivals. His first feature film, ‘The Lives of the Saints’, a darkly comic morality tale written by Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) and starring an all-British cast, is now available on DVD. Distributed by Tartan films, the film been shown in numerous festivals this year, winning the grand jury prize in Salento.
Rankin has published several books recently. In December 2006 he published the book ‘TuuliTastic' - A Photographic Love Letter’, featuring an exclusive combination of commissioned fashion, advertising and editorial images of Tuuli, Rankin’s favourite model and muse. In January this year Rankin published ‘Beautyfull’, a book that brings together the most photographed women in the world in a powerful display of beauty. ‘TuuliTastic’ and ‘Beautyfull’ were both accompanied by an intimate exhibition at a central London based Gallery as part of ‘The Series’ – a six-month program of exhibitions that ran from November 2006 to summer 2007. The other exhibitions ran under the titles: ‘Eyescapes’, ‘Me Me Me’, ‘Erotica’ and ‘Polaroids’.
Rankin also published a retrospective book in 2007 called “Visually Hungry”. The book documents his extraordinary career drawing together over 400 images from two decades of work. From his first shots as a student, to his most recent self-portraits and everything in between, the book is a selection of the artist’s favorite pictures. He exhibited a selection of these works at the International Photo-festival Knokke-Heist in Belgium
In September 2007, Rankin held his debut American solo show in Los Angeles at the Fahey/Klein gallery, entitled, “Eye Candy.” Of the show, that features some of his favorite female nude images shot throughout his career, Rankin says simply, “There’s no point in dressing it up, I love women and I love taking photos, it’s more like a fantastic hobby than a job."
Rankin has already kicked off 2008 with prominent exhibitions in Moscow and Paris, and has no less than eight books in the pre-production.
Rankin lives in London and has a twelve-year-old son, Lyle.
Like Rankin's portraits, always interesting, good lighting.
1 comment:
I like what you have done here. But? Do not waste your time looking at Rankin. You will find nothing new here, but you will see the influence of others in everything he does.
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