In this poster reproduction of Rheims’s theatrical image, “Lily Cole, etude”, the photographer portrays her subject as a soft, lyrical and vulnerable presence in a stark and spare environment, clutching at a disintegrating bouquet. The spirit of Shakespeare’s Ophelia pervades as the actress/model assumes a pensive, melancholic expression.

Bettina Rheims is a French artist, photographer, and director celebrated for her distinctive fashion photography and the more personal work that grew out of that pursuit. Deploying portraiture, her subjects are usually women, often with an element of performance or self-elaboration. Her 2014 publication, Gender Studies, investigated themes of gender compliance and rejection – a further elaboration on the theme of self recreation so central to Rheims’s focus.

I’ll Be Your Mirror was the title of Fotografiska, Stockholm’s 2016 exhibition showcasing the work of renowned French photographer Bettina Rheims. Having begun her career as a photographic model who became a fashion photographer, Rheims’s practice evolved into portrait photography of a broader, more investigative character. Working closely with her subjects the photographer conjures elaborately refined identities for her sitters, addressing the imaginary fictionalized realm the camera can create.

Size: 19.69"W x 27.56"H (50x70 cm)

Printed on 170g FSC-certified paper.