Graydon Carter and Jonathan Becker - 30 Years at Vanity Fair - Design and Style Series Event

FREE - Berger Forum doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Join Vanity Fair’s legendary Editor in Chief, Graydon Carter and iconic society photographer Jonathan Becker for an evening of personal conversation in celebration of Jonathan Becker: 30 Years at Vanity Fair.

At the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, 18 May 1983. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Bernard Malamud. Courtesy of Assouline, ©Jonathan Becker.

For the first-time ever, Carter and Becker go beyond the pages of Vanity Fair and share their behind-the-scenes conversations that led to capturing of the world’s most scintillating characters and personalities from the worlds of art, literature, politics, pop-culture and society. From Becker's mentorships with Brassai and Slim Aarons to leading the revival of Vanity Fair, listen as old-time collaborators and friends discuss the daring assignments, the landmark headlines, the 30-years of unforgettable moments from one of photography's intriguing and celebrated legends. 

Robert Mapplethorpe at his retrospective opening at The Whitney, New York. Courtesy of Assouline, ©Jonathan Becker.

Jonathan Becker: 30 Years at Vanity Fair (Assouline 2012) is an oversized tome featuring some of the most poignant social imagery of this century. Photographer Jonathan Becker began contributing to Vanity Fair following a successful solo exhibition in 1981, his portraits featured largely in the prototype for the magazine’s relaunch in 1982. Becker’s specialty in portraits, photographed mostly on location, soon became a Vanity Fair staple: Robert Mapplethorpe, Jack Kevorkian, Jocelyn Wildenstein, and Martha Graham, as well as countless socialites, artists, and heads of state.

Copies of the book are available for purchase and signing at the event after the audience Q&A.

Ines Torlonia - Hido Saracevic and Dino Trapetti in Piazzeta. Courtesy of Assouline, ©Jonathan Becker.

Assignments for the magazine have dispatched Becker far and wide—from the Amazonian jungle, for first encounter photographs of members of the Yanomami tribe, to Buckingham Palace, for the first photographs showing the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles together. Over three decades with Vanity Fair, Jonathan Becker has photographed some of the most fascinating characters from the rarefied worlds of art, literature, politics, pop culture, and society, capturing the personality and individuality of his celebrity subjects often unseen through other lenses.

Yiu Minjun in his studio, Beijing. Courtesy of Assouline, ©Jonathan Becker.

Jonathan Becker grew up in New York and lived in Paris in the 1970s, mentored by the legendary photographer Brassaï. He began his career at Interview, and honed his journalistic portrait photography working with Slim Aarons and Frank Zachary at Town & Country in the 1980s. His photographs became a staple at Vanity Fair after its relaunch in 1982, and he has been a contributing photographer for the magazine since 1990. Becker has also contributed his portraits extensively at Vogue, The New Yorker, and many major magazines. His other books for Assouline are Bright Young Things New York (2002) and Bright Young Things London (2002).

Franco Rossellini at home, New York. Courtesy of Assouline, ©Jonathan Becker.

Graydon Carter has been the editor of Vanity Fair since July 1992 and has won every award a magazine editor can win. Prior to joining Vanity Fair, Carter was editor of The New York Observer from 1991 to 1992. He came to that newspaper from Spy magazine, which he co-founded in 1986. During Carter's five-year tenure as co-editor, Spy increased its circulation six fold and received two National Magazine Award nominations. He worked as a staff writer for Time for five years, covering business, law, and entertainment before joining Life as a staff writer in 1983. He lives in Manhattan with one of his five children.

Conceived and organized by Arezoo Moseni and in its third year, Design and Style is a series of events featuring discussions and presentations by leading professionals in the various design fields.