Hollywood Times
March 15, 2025
by Jimmy Steinfeldt
Fashion photographer Arthur Elgort photographed and interviewed by Jimmy Steinfeldt
Jimmy Steinfeldt (JS): How often do you clean your lens?
Arthur Elgort (AE): My daughter is always reminding me to clean my lens. My assistant, who has been with me for twelve years, also reminds me.
JS: What was your first camera?
AE: Konica because it’s very light and automatic. It takes the exposure reading for you. It’s a very good camera and inexpensive.
I was born in New York in Washington Heights and went to Hunter College which was free then. When I went to school there were few cameras around but now everybody has a camera in their phone. Back then you had to know what you were doing. The iPhone is a good camera so now you can use your phone camera and you’re a genius.
JS: What photographers influenced you?
AE: Jacques Henri Lartigue, Irving Penn, and Dick Avedon. I also loved Henri Cartier Bresson. Sometimes he didn’t take a photo for a while and then he’d be inspired to do so. Then he might take just one photo. I think he didn’t want to waste money.
I knew Penn and Avedon. I always liked the Rolleiflex camera, and the photos Avedon did. He was so fast with it. He worked on the movie Funny Face with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. He helped teach Astaire how to act like a photographer.
JS: How did your study of painting influence you?
AE: Franz Kline was my favorite, but I’d go too far with a painting. I’d make a good painting and then try to make it better and ruin it. I’d photograph my paintings with a Polaroid camera so I could say to myself “STOP, the painting is complete, don’t go any further.”
This frequent use of the Polaroid camera pushed me towards being a photographer. Also, everybody said my fingernails were dirty. It was from the paint. So, I stopped painting and became a photographer. Soon I had a show of my photographs at Bleeker street, and many famous people came.
JS Do you have a preference for black & white or color?
AE: Black & White but I do color too. And I love film. My son Warren and also my daughter shoot film all the time. My son Ansel, who is an actor, is also a very good photographer and shoots with a Nikon camera creating beautiful color. There have been many famous actors who were good photographers.
JS: Dennis Hopper.
AE: Yes.
JS: Tell me about your career as a filmmaker.
AE: I wanted to show older people. I chose rodeo rider Bruce Ford. He was about forty years old which is old for a rodeo rider. The film is called Colorado Cowboy and it won Best Cinematography at Sundance.
I did a movie Texas Tenor about saxophonist Illinois Jacquet. He was about seventy years old, but he could still play saxophone very well. He spent most of his youth in New Orleans and was an Alto sax player. Later Lionel Hampton told him “I don’t need an Alto player. Buy yourself a bigger horn and come back.” He did and he played sax on the famous song “Flying Home.”
JS: What cameras are you using today?
AE: I use Olympus and my new Leica D-Lux 8 which I like because it’s lightweight and has very good color. I also use Canon EOS R5 for big jobs. I had a stroke, and it took two years to learn to talk fully again.
JS: You are strong, you’ve made an incredible recovery.
AE: A lot of people stay at home when they get older. I go to my studio and work. It’s an amazing studio with very high ceilings. I have a beautiful book called Camera Ready: How to Shoot Your Kids. Not shoot them with a gun, shoot them with a camera. It’s a beautiful book. They are photos of my kids.
JS: How did you come to shoot the “Snapshot” type photo.
AE: Irving Penn said I’m the best shooter of the “Snapshot.” He even said he couldn’t take that type of photo. He liked having his Rolleiflex camera on a tripod where he could look down into the camera instead of through the camera. He would make fun of me and said “You are so quick.”
JS: As a magazine photographer myself and past member of the ASMP I’m interested to know how you got your first magazine work?
AE: I think I did McCall’s first for editor Bob Cato who thought my style was quick. I also did a shot in the snow for Clive Barnes and it didn’t turn out well so they let me do it again. It came out beautiful. Then I started working for Mademoiselle published by Conde Nast. Then I went to work for Vogue.
JS: You have a page on your website devoted to jazz greats. Tell me about your love of Jazz.
AE: I’ve loved Jazz since I was about ten years old. I listened to Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong. I had an older brother, and all my albums were of black musicians and his were Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. He also liked Dave Brubeck which was too cool for me. I was a good trumpet player but lost my ability to play after my stroke. Thank God I didn’t lose my ability to think of good ideas for pictures.
JS: On your personal page I love the photo of your mom winking at you through the car window
AE: Oh yes.
JS: You have influenced me on my location photography. This is a photo I took of Kaia Gerber. You have photographed her mother Cindy Crawford many times.
AE: Cindy flew me out to California to photograph her son Presley. I also photographed the wedding of Cindy and Rande Gerber. By the way I told David Fahey he should have a show of Cindy Crawford photos by different photographers, not just me. She has so many great pictures. I had an exhibit here at Fahey Klein seven years ago and now this exhibit.
JS: I’ve photographed the Rolling Stones many times in concert. What was it like doing a photo session with them?
AE: At first it was difficult because I did it in my apartment and they were always in the bathroom. I don’t know why, I guess they had to pee all the time. I said “Listen, I’m doing this because of Jerry Hall and Patti Hansen. I don’t mind your music but I’m more into Count Basie and Duke Ellington. So, you guys gotta help me or get out of here!” All of a sudden, they were wonderful. Actually, I may have said it in a bit more charming way. Today I’m blunter. Also, I’m still friends with Patti Hansen and Jerry Hall.
JS: My first photo in Rolling Stone magazine was of Madonna in concert. What was it like doing a photo session with her?
AE: I did it for Interview magazine and I think she had red hair at that time. She was very good, and the photos turned out great. She didn’t like the art director, so I told him to go into another room.
JS: You mentioned Interview magazine. I think of Andy Warhol, Bob Colacello, and Christopher Makos.
AE: I never met Warhol.
JS: You were close to Karl Lagerfeld.
AE: Of course. Not only that, I was friends with Yves Saint Laurent. They couldn’t stand each other. Laurent would ask me “Who do you like better?”
JS: Who would you like to photograph?
AE: Lady Gaga and Hannah Ferguson
JS: What’s next for you?
AE: I’ve been doing a lot of photo shoots, including nude portraits.
JS: If you are shooting nudes how’s the heat in your studio?
AE: Very good, no problem.
JS: Some artists are reluctant to talk about their fame. You are admired greatly by your fellow photographers. Can you comment on this worldwide admiration photographers have for you?
AE: It’s just lucky for me. I think I do a good job. Also, I’m very proud of my kids. They are all good photographers. Sophie is my oldest, then Warren, then Ansel. It’s nice to have kids that like the same things as their father. I bought them all cameras. I myself have two or three Leica’s including the M6.
JS: Let’s conclude this fun interview by each of us taking a photo of the other.
AE: Let’s!