Artist Bio
Max Vadukul is a leading image maker best known for his portrait photography. He follows in the tradition of what he calls “art reportage” photography, which he describes as “taking reality and making it into art.” He has also had a lifelong affinity with black and white, a foundation of much of his early work.
He has long standing relationships with magazines such as The New Yorker, French Vogue, Italian Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue, and Rolling Stone. He shoots regularly for W Magazine, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Vogue China, and others.
From 1996 to 2000 he was the New Yorker’s staff photographer, a title previously occupied by Richard Avedon. He photographed hundreds of subjects for the magazine, including Mother Theresa, Al Gore, Mick Jagger, Donald Trump, and (one of his personal favorite assignments), 40 Nobel laureates at once. In 1997 he photographed much of the magazine’s celebrated Indian Fiction issue. After the New Yorker, he became photo Editor-At-Large for Tina Brown’s Talk magazine.
He established himself in the 1990’s with a large body of work for French Vogue – a large portion of which was created with his wife, the eminent fashion editor Nicoletta Santoro. They have collaborated often through the years. In the mid 80’s Max photographed several prestigious Yoji Yamamoto ad campaigns, introducing many to his signature movement-filled black and white images for the first time.
He has produced three books and is also a film director. He recently created a series of dance and music videos for Yoji Yamamoto’s “Coming Soon” clothing line campaign. He has also branded his trademark style on campaigns for Chloe, Commes Des Garcons, Armani, Comme des Garçons, Emanuel Ungaro, Sandro, and HBO’s “Six Feet Under.”
He was born in Kenya in 1961, and grew up as a teenager in London. He is a self professed cricket nut who wakes up at 4 a.m. in order to watch games happening around the world. He reads news voraciously. He’s lived in Paris and London, and one day hopes to retire in the hills of Tuscany with his wife. Until then, he resides in Manhattan.
