THE RELEVANT QUEER: Francesco Scavullo, Fashion Photographer and Celebrity Glamourist, Born January 16, 1921

“A male model or a female model. I didn’t refuse. I was a horny little Italian. Didn’t matter to me.”

TRQ: Francesco Scavullo, Born Jan. 16, 1921

Fashion and celebrity photographer Francesco Scavullo was born on January 16, 1921. Scavullo is most known for his portraits of pop culture icons like Madonna, Andy Warhol, Kate Moss, Mick Jagger and others. Scavullo often courted controversy as seen in his photographs of a young Brooke Shields or a nude Burt Reynolds. His work amped the sensuality of fashion photography, and over the course of Scavullo’s thirty-year relationship with Cosmopolitan magazine, he created the hyper-sexual “Cosmo girl” phenomenon.

Scavullo was born in Staten Island but spent his childhood in Manhattan after his father bought a supper club. He spent much of younger years obsessing over fashion on Fifth Avenue in the pages of fashion magazines. He used his father’s camera to photograph his sisters, often transforming them into models through the glamorous style of Hollywood.

As a teen, Scavullo landed his professional job photographing cruise ship travellers, who happened to include movie star Carmen Miranda. He next helped photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe in lighting Lauren Bacall’s first ever photo shoot, which made the cover for Harper’s Bazaar in 1943.

In 1945, Scavullo worked in a studio producing fashion catalogues but soon moved onto Vogue. He worked under iconic fashion photographers Cecil Beaton and John Rawlings. As Horst P. Horst’s assistant, Scavullo closely studied the master photographer’s signature lighting techniques.

Under the guidance of Babs Simpson, editor of Vogue from 1947 to 1972, Scavullo landed a contract with Seventeen magazine in 1948. As a young photographer, he learned to work with the industry’s notoriously temperamental talent.  As he once explained, “I was a little kid in jeans with curly hair.” After model Meg Mundy refused to work with him, “I realised there are two kinds of models. Pretty nice models and bitchy pretty models.”

In 1965, editor Helen Gurley Brown brought Scavullo to Cosmopolitan, where he shot the magazine’s covers for 30 years. The “Cosmo girl” emerged through his control over choosing models and styling. Shot in the early 1970s Scavullo work with Brooke Shields as a child and his nude centrefold of Burt Reynolds for the magazine rank as some of the photographer’s more controversial work. During these years, he also contributed to the rise of Gia Carangi, regarded by many as fashion’s first super model.

“I get a kick out of photography, I love it. I live for it. I don’t look back. I don’t look ahead. I just look around.”
— Francesco Scavullo

Beyond the pages of Cosmopolitan, Scavullo worked with many celebrities and high-profile artists. He collaborated often with Cher. He also helped launch the career of actress and model Farrah Fawcett. He shot Janis Joplin and Diana Ross for their album covers. In 1976, he shot the movie poster for A Star Is Born starring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. Through the 1980s he worked Duran Duran, Donna Summer, Mikhail Baryshnikov and the American Ballet Theatre.

Sean M. Byrne started assisting Scavullo’s shoots in 1972. The two became eventually became life partners. During these years, Scavullo suffered from mental breakdowns. When Scavullo was finally diagnosed as manic depressive in the 1980s, he advocated for people to learn more about the condition and its treatment.

“It’s exciting and scary my creativity peaks, my mind races, I work through the depressions photographing intensely. It’s like singing over a cold for an opera singer.”
— Francesco Scavullo

Through the course of his career, Scavullo shot covers for Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Interview and Rollingstone. He published six books: Scavullo on Beauty (1976), Scavullo on Men (1977), Scavullo Women (1982), Scavullo: Francesco Scavullo Photographs 1948-1984 (1984), Scavullo: Photographs 50 Years (1997), and Scavullo Nudes (2000).

On January 6, 2004, Scavullo died of heart failure. Working until the end of his life, he passed on the way to a photo shoot with news anchor Anderson Cooper. He was survived by Byrne, his patterned for 32 years.

About the Authors:

Troy Wise is currently a PhD student at UAL Central St Martins and teaches fashion and graphic design at London College of Contemporary Arts. His background is in marketing and he is founder and co-editor of Image Amplified. He lives in, and is continually fascinated by, the city of London.

Rick Guzman earned his most recent MA at UAL Central St Martins in Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries. He currently holds two MA’s and an MBA in the New Media, Journalism and International Business fields. Co-editor at Image Amplified since its start, he lives in London, is fascinated by history and is motivated by continuing to learn and explore.

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Sources:

The Guardian

Washington Post

GLBTQ Archive

Independent

Mgross

Lisi Contemporary Art