Beloved fashion photographer Roxanne Lowit has died.
Her Instagram account posted the message last night,
We are very sad to say we lost a remarkable woman today.
Roxanne Lowit was a legendary photographer who provided an intimate look into the world of fashion and showed us a side of nightlife that most people didn’t get to see. Roxanne was a woman who believed in magic. Roxanne was a bright,creative light. A great friend who enriched others’ lives in so many ways – she was loved by many and will be greatly missed.
Rest In Peace my love. You’re the best.
For over three decades, Lowit captured the faces, personalities, of the world of art, fashion, music and nightlife. The list goes on an on, a who’s who of pop culture; Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Kate Moss, Yves Saint-Laurent, Johnny Depp, Madonna, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell, George Clooney… you name them, she shot them.
A native New Yorker, Lowit was originally a textile designer. She went to F.I.T. but she found her true calling by taking her camera where nobody else thought to go at the time: backstage at fashion shows. Everyone else was fixated on the runway, Roxanne was behind-the-scenes where the real action was.
Lowit’s photography has appeared in every major fashion title in America, Italy, France, England, and Germany; Vogue, Allure, Vanity Fair, Tatler, GQ, W, and many others.
With Roxanne at the New Museum opening, where I showed my “Drink Up” painting, in 2014
Before becoming a painter and writer, I worked as an art director for several magazines and would hire Roxanne often. We became friends, but she knew EVERYONE and everyone knew Roxanne. Often while we were all having fun at a party, she was working –and playing– she mixed the two seamlessly. That’s how she got such great candid pictures like those below. She was nice and fun and gossipy and a real New Yorker.
Roxanne did four books; Moments (1990), People (2001), Backstage Dior (2009), and Roxanne Lowit Photograhs Yves Saint Laurent (2014).
Her work has been exhibited in many of the world’s major museums, including the Met, Whitney, the Victoria & Albert, and the Andy Warhol Museum. Check out her work here, you’ll be amazed.
Roxanne, you’ll be missed by many. I’ll see you backstage, honey…
