Dior Presents The Book Dior Images Paolo Roversi

Dior Images Paolo Roversi is a celebration of the collaboration between the famous couture House and a world leading fashion photographer. Published by Rizzoli, the book paints a fascinating portrait of Dior Haute Couture creations, as seen through Paolo Roversi’s lens.

A native of Ravenna in Italy, Paolo Roversi arrived in Paris in 1973. He discovered the work of Richard Avedon and Irving Penn and went on to meet Robert Frank, Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton. In the 1990s, he began to photograph Haute Couture creations for prestigious magazines such as Vogue Paris, Vogue Italia, British Vogue and W.

Paolo Roversi has spent over forty years creating a remarkable and profoundly poetic body of work. His skilful use of Polaroid film combined with a large-format camera underpins a highly sensitive view of women, helping to create the fragile grace that makes his style immediately recognizable.

Dior Images Paolo Roversi comprises a series of iconic pictures taken by the photographer and published in leading fashion magazines over the last twenty-seven years. The collection of images, with a preface by Italian philosopher Emanuele Coccia, features models including Naomi Campbell, Natalia Vodianova and Laetitia Casta in striking but natural poses.

Paolo Roversi’s frequent use of blurs evokes the origins of fashion photography and removes the dividing line between the models’ bodies and the world that surrounds them. The photographer’s lens highlights something pure, a sort of abandon or absence, far removed from conventional facial expressions and poses. 

The dresses by Christian Dior and his successors – Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri - that grace the pages seem to be infused with an inner light. In addition to archive images, the book exclusively reveals a selection of Christian Dior’s most beautiful designs, photographed during a session that famous stylist Grace Coddington worked on. The book proves that, in Paolo Roversi’s words, ‘photography is not a reproduction but a revelation.’