Clive Arrowsmith

One of the most celebrated Welsh photographers, Clive Arrowsmith, is widely known for his work in the fashion industry and the entertainment world. With a repertoire of portraits of famous personalities, including Yves Saint Laurent, The Dalai Lama, David Bowie, Sammy Davis Jr., Yoko Ono, and Damien Hirst, Arrowsmith keeps himself at the forefront of photographers working in the spotlight.

 Clive Arrowsmith attended art school in North Wales and later moved to Kingston College of Art. After graduating, he was a painter and then worked as a graphic designer for a popular British television network. While working in graphic design, Arrowsmith would begin taking photographs. Subsequently, some of the world’s most well-known fashion magazines noticed Clive Arrowsmith’s work, and he started to gain commissions working for different publications. He began creating a portfolio of memorable photographs that appeared in the pages of Vogue, Harper’s, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and other renowned publications worldwide.

 Concurrently with his fashion editorials, Clive Arrowsmith remained an avid music admirer. This attraction to music was evident in his work. Shooting portraits for album covers, he took portraits of the most consequential artists of his day, the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Wings, Jeff Beck, Art Garfunkel, and Def Leppard, to name a few. Clive Arrowsmith would shoot the prestigious Pirelli Calendar. He would become the only photographer to photograph the calendar two years in succession. The Pirelli Calendar is a very coveted assignment known for presenting the world’s best photographers and models. In 1992, the CEO of Pirelli described the purpose of the calendar as a way to preserve the passing of time by recording the spirit of the ages.

 Having worked on many significant stills advertising campaigns such as De Beers, Revlon, G.H.D. Morello, Caroline Castigliano, Lexus, Hasselblad, etc., Clive has continued to broaden his creative scope, moving on to direct commercials for Heinz, Revlon, Hamlet Cigars (winner of The Silver Lion Cannes Film Festival), Rapeed Sunglasses, and music videos of artists like Lee Griffiths, Jamiroquai, Jools Holland, Z.T.T. and Def Leppard. Clive has recently worked in Taiwan on the Free Tibet campaign with the Heavy Metal band, Chthonic and has also photographed His Holiness the Dalai Lama several times. Clive has also just published his first book Arrowsmith: Fashion, Beauty and Portraits (ACC Publishing), described by Jeffrey Felner of the prestigious New York Journal of Books as “nothing short of breath taking.” The book was launched at the prestigious Fashion Museum, London, where Clive enthralled his audience with numerous humorous behind the scene tales of his high-profile shoots.

SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS:

•  Fotografiska, Stockholm, SE

•  The National Portrait Gallery, London, UK

•  Museum of Bath Architecture, Bath, UK