About the Author

Bettina Rheims is a French fine art and fashion photographer. She first won acclaim with a dramatic series of portraits of striptease artists and acrobats, gaining a solo exhibition at the Centre Pompidou aged just 29. Subsequent series include Chambre Close (1990–1992); I.N.R.I. (1998), picturing scenes from the life of Christ; The Book of Olga (2008 for TASCHEN); and Gender Studies (2014). She has worked on advertising campaigns for major brands including Chanel and Lancôme, and taken portraits of such famous individuals as Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Faithfull, Claudia Schiffer, Catherine Deneuve, and Jacques Chirac. Rheims won the Grand Prix de la Photographie de la Ville de Paris in 1994 and the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2002.