Biography of Tim Walker
One of the standout and most celebrated photographers of our day, the exuberant and romantic style of Tim Walker has adorned high-end fashion magazines and galleries for over 15 years. According to him the camera is “simply a box put between you and what you want to capture.”
Born in 1970 in England, Tim Walker’s involvement in photography stemmed from a work experience placement at Condé Nast during which he worked on the Cecil Beaton photography archive. He then became the first assistant to New York based photographer Richard Avedon. By the aged of 25 he was back in London and had shot his first cover for British Vogue.
With commissions pouring in for other publications, such as Harper’s Bazaar, Tim Walker had his first large-scale exhibition at the Design Museum, London in 2008. That same year his photography book, Pictures was published, which gave a comprehensive overview of the artist’s artistic process as well as insights into his adventurous, glamorous vision. In 2010 his first short film, The Lost Explorer, revealed a much darker side to the artist’s vision and in 2011 it won the best short film award at the Chicago United Film Festival.
A sense of enchantment pervades much of Tim Walker’s artwork, as he tends to avoid conventional fashion images, to prioritise narratives and fantastical allegorical environments. In 2008 he received the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator from the British Fashion Council. In 2012 Tim Walker’s hugely popular “Story Teller” photographic exhibition opened at Somerset House in London. That same year he received a Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society.
Collected around the world his photographs can be found in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery and The Victoria & Albert Museum, both in London. In 2017 it was announced that he will be doing the 45th annual Pirelli Calendar. It is the first time the calendar will have an all-black cast, and will be based around the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.