As part of our 20th anniversary summer series, we’re pleased to present the work of Jean-Baptiste Mondino, whose photographs have shaped the visual language of fashion, music, and pop culture over the last four decades.
Mondino approaches photography with a musician’s instinct and a filmmaker’s eye—infusing each image with rhythm, seduction, and a charged theatricality. Whether capturing cultural icons or anonymous performers, his portraits are bold, electric, and unmistakably his. The guitar, a recurring figure in his work, becomes a symbol of desire, performance, and power.
With a background in DJing and composing, Mondino brings an intuitive sense of tempo to his lens. The result is work that feels both iconic and subversive— stylish yet irreverent. In Mondino’s world, glamour is always a little bit dangerous.
Jean-Baptiste Mondino was born in Aubervilliers, France in 1949, and currently resides in Paris. Today, his services are commissioned by the likes of Björk, Brian Ferry, Sting, David Bowie, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Waits and Prince—as they are likewise by design gurus such as Philippe Starck or politicians such as Nelson Mandela, not to mention any number of art directors in the large ad agencies, editors-in-chief of numerous underground or glossy magazines and manufacturers of diverse brand-name articles such as Dior, Gautier, Nike and Calvin Klein. In addition to his photography, Mondino continues to be active with his film work for commercials and music videos. Mondino has exhibited at public galleries internationally, including at the Maison Européene de la Photographie (MEP), Paris; Corkin Shopland Gallery, Toronto; 798 Space, Beijing; and Haus der Photographie/Deichtorhallen, Hamburg. Schirmer/Mosel has published three monographs of Mondino’s work: Guitar Eros (2006), Two Much (2005) and Déjà vu (1999).