Rankin (photographer)
Encyclopedia
John Rankin Waddell, working name Rankin, born 1966, is a British
portrait
and fashion photographer.
, he realized that his interests lay elsewhere and dropped out, taking up the study photography at London College of Printing
. During this time, Rankin met Jefferson Hack
, with whom he formed a working relationship. The two decided to start a magazine together called Dazed & Confused
once they had graduated.
In 1999 Hack and Rankin founded Dazed Film & TV, a production company that would produce the first mast-head television broadcast ever, the four hour special Renegade TV Gets Dazed, for Channel 4
. In December 2000 Rankin launched his own quarterly fashion magazine, RANK. He also publishes Another Magazine
and more recently Another Man.
His many subjects have included Britney Spears
, Kate Moss
, Kylie Minogue
, Spice Girls
, Madonna
, David Bowie
, Björk
, Juliette Binoche
, Lily Allen
, Kevin Spacey
, The Rolling Stones
, Vivienne Westwood
, Cate Blanchett
, Damien Hirst
, Queen Elizabeth II, Tony Blair
and M.I.A.
.
In addition, Rankin has donated his services to publicity campaigns for the charitable organisation Women's Aid
, providing photographs for use in the What's it going to take?
and Valentine's Day campaigns.
Rankin began 2009 by inviting people across the UK to participate in his project Rankin Live!. A show of two halves, Rankin brought a museum scale retrospective
of the last 22 years of Rankin’s photographic life, together with portraits of 1500 of today’s British public. Open to people over thirteen who had a distinctive style, sense of British eccentricity and enthusiasm. The participants were invited to the Rankin Live exhibition at the Truman Brewery in August to sit for their personal shoot. The portraits produced on the day were hung as part of the ever-changing exhibition and uploaded to the Rankin Live website.
In April 2009 Rankin created ‘’Annroy’’, a contemporary structure designed by Trevor Horne Architects that is both a striking addition to London’s skyline and home to Rankin’s own state-of-the-art photographic studio, gallery and chic living space, where he lives with his wife and model Tuuli Shipster. Each month ‘’Annroy’’ holds a different exhibition, which features some of Rankin’s current work.
Rankin was first married to actress Kate Hardie
. They married in 1995, divorced in 1998 and had a son, Lyle, together.
Rankin has photographed some of Hollywood’s most famous people and has shot some world-renowned campaigns, including Nike
, Umbro
, Reebok
, Marks and Spencer’s, Rimmel
, L’Oreal, Hugo Boss
, Levi's, Shiatzy Chen
, Thomas Wylde, Longchamp
, Aussi, Madonna
for H&M
, Dove
, BMW
, and Coca Cola.
Rankin has made commercial television advertisements with Chris Cottam, including for the Dove range of products and Rimmel
cosmetics. The duo also made The Lives of the Saints, a gangster film set in London
. They have also made music promo videos for Kelis
‘’Acapella”, Nelly Furtado
‘’Say It Right’’, Marina and the Diamonds ‘’I Am Not A Robot’’, Robyn
‘’Cobrastyle’’, Sky Ferreira
"One", The Noisettes
Ever Fallen in Love, and The Enemy
‘’No Time for Tears’’.
In January 2009, BBC 4 broadcast his 1 hour documentary Seven Photographs that Changed Fashion, in which he created his own tributes to the iconic images by Cecil Beaton
, Erwin Blumenfeld
, Richard Avedon
, Helmut Newton
, Herb Ritts
, David Bailey and Guy Bourdin
. He interviewed an array of original photographers, models and assistants, and used contemporary models including Heidi Klum
, Erin O'Connor
, Jade Parfitt
, Sophie Ellis-Bextor
, his wife Tuuli Shipster, Mollie Gondi
, Daphne Guinness
and David Gandy
.
In 2010, Rankin travelled to South Africa
with the BBC
to shoot the documentary, South Africa in Pictures. He explored the country’s rich photographic tradition, discovering how its photographers have captured this complex and turbulent nation through some remarkable images, charting the important role that photography has played in documenting its story. The same year, Rankin was commissioned by Nike
and Bono
’s R.E.D in the fight against HIV/AIDS, to shoot a global Nike campaign, Lace Up Save Lives, to raise awareness about the disease.
Rankin was involved with television reality show Britain's Missing Top Model
. The show followed eight young women with disabilities who competed for a modeling contract, which includes a photo shoot with Rankin and a cover photo in Marie Claire
. Rankin has shot for Germany's Next Topmodel, where he was a guest judge, and regularly works with the winner of Cycle 2 of Britains Next Top Model Lianna Fowler.
In 2011 Rankin served as the photography teacher in the Channel 4
series Jamie's Dream School
featuring Jamie Oliver
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
and fashion photographer.
Life and career
Waddell was brought up in St Albans, Hertfordshire. At the age of 21, whilst studying accounting at Brighton PolytechnicUniversity of Brighton
The University of Brighton is an English university of the United Kingdom, with a community of over 23,000 students and 2,600 staff based on campuses in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings. It has one of the best teaching quality ratings in the UK and a strong research record, factors which...
, he realized that his interests lay elsewhere and dropped out, taking up the study photography at London College of Printing
London College of Communication
The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, located in Elephant and Castle. It has about 5,000 students on 60 courses in media and design courses preparing students for careers in the creative industries...
. During this time, Rankin met Jefferson Hack
Jefferson Hack
Jefferson Winston Hack is a journalist and magazine editor. He co-founded Dazed & Confused with photographer Rankin in 1991. Hack has been a contributor to The Daily Telegraph on men’s style and has guest-edited The Independent...
, with whom he formed a working relationship. The two decided to start a magazine together called Dazed & Confused
Dazed & Confused (magazine)
Dazed & Confused is a British style magazine, that was set up in 1992 and published monthly. Its founding editors were Jefferson Hack and Rankin...
once they had graduated.
In 1999 Hack and Rankin founded Dazed Film & TV, a production company that would produce the first mast-head television broadcast ever, the four hour special Renegade TV Gets Dazed, for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. In December 2000 Rankin launched his own quarterly fashion magazine, RANK. He also publishes Another Magazine
Another Magazine
Another Magazine is a bi-annual culture and fashion magazine for men and women. It was launched in 2001 under the umbrella publishing company Dazed Group....
and more recently Another Man.
His many subjects have included Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
, Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
, Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
, Lily Allen
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...
, Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood
Dame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI is a British fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.-Early life:...
, Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
, Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
, Queen Elizabeth II, Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and M.I.A.
M.I.A. (artist)
Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...
.
In addition, Rankin has donated his services to publicity campaigns for the charitable organisation Women's Aid
Women's Aid
Women's Aid is a group of feminist charities across the United Kingdom. There are four main Women's Aid Federations, one for each country. Its aim is to end domestic violence against women and children...
, providing photographs for use in the What's it going to take?
What's it going to take?
What's it going to take? is a British print and poster campaign launched in 2007 by Women's Aid to boost awareness of domestic violence against women in the United Kingdom. The campaign, handled by advertising agency Grey London, comprised photographs of nine female celebrities made-up to appear as...
and Valentine's Day campaigns.
Rankin began 2009 by inviting people across the UK to participate in his project Rankin Live!. A show of two halves, Rankin brought a museum scale retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective generally means to take a look back at events that already have taken place. For example, the term is used in medicine, describing a look back at a patient's medical history or lifestyle.-Music:...
of the last 22 years of Rankin’s photographic life, together with portraits of 1500 of today’s British public. Open to people over thirteen who had a distinctive style, sense of British eccentricity and enthusiasm. The participants were invited to the Rankin Live exhibition at the Truman Brewery in August to sit for their personal shoot. The portraits produced on the day were hung as part of the ever-changing exhibition and uploaded to the Rankin Live website.
In April 2009 Rankin created ‘’Annroy’’, a contemporary structure designed by Trevor Horne Architects that is both a striking addition to London’s skyline and home to Rankin’s own state-of-the-art photographic studio, gallery and chic living space, where he lives with his wife and model Tuuli Shipster. Each month ‘’Annroy’’ holds a different exhibition, which features some of Rankin’s current work.
Rankin was first married to actress Kate Hardie
Kate Hardie
Kate Hardie is a British actress, who has appeared in a number of film and television roles.-Biography:Hardie's stage name is derived from those of both her parents: Jean Hart and comedian turned naturalist Bill Oddie.-Career:...
. They married in 1995, divorced in 1998 and had a son, Lyle, together.
Rankin has photographed some of Hollywood’s most famous people and has shot some world-renowned campaigns, including Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, Umbro
Umbro
Umbro is an English sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England. The company is now part of Nike. Umbro designs, sources, and markets sport-related apparel, footwear, and equipment...
, Reebok
Reebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
, Marks and Spencer’s, Rimmel
Rimmel
Rimmel is a cosmetics brand, now owned by Coty, Inc.. The House of Rimmel was originally founded by Eugene Rimmel in 1834 in Regent Street, London, UK....
, L’Oreal, Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss
Hugo Ferdinand Boss was the founder of clothing company Hugo Boss.-Early life:Boss was born in Metzingen, Germany. After completing his apprenticeship and one year of employment, he founded his own company in Metzingen in 1923.-Support of Nazism:Boss joined the Nazi Party in 1931, two years before...
, Levi's, Shiatzy Chen
Shiatzy Chen
Shiatzy Chen is a Taiwanese fashion house, whose founder and brand innovator Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia is often referred to as the Chanel of Taiwan,and is the eponym of her luxury goods brand. She was born in 1951 in Changhua, Taiwan and founded the company in 1978...
, Thomas Wylde, Longchamp
Longchamp (company)
Longchamp is a French leather and luxury goods company.Longchamp was founded by Jean Cassegrain in 1948, and the company employed individual craftsmen dispersed throughout the Loire valley countryside to create leather coverings for pipes and other products geared toward smokers. By 1955, it had...
, Aussi, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
for H&M
H&M
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB is a Swedish retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children....
, Dove
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
, BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
, and Coca Cola.
Rankin has made commercial television advertisements with Chris Cottam, including for the Dove range of products and Rimmel
Rimmel
Rimmel is a cosmetics brand, now owned by Coty, Inc.. The House of Rimmel was originally founded by Eugene Rimmel in 1834 in Regent Street, London, UK....
cosmetics. The duo also made The Lives of the Saints, a gangster film set in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. They have also made music promo videos for Kelis
Kelis
Kelis Rogers Kelis Rogers Kelis Rogers (born August 21, 1971 is an American musical artist. She is a BRIT Award, Q Award and NME Award winner and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. She has had nine top 10 singles on the UK Singles Chart...
‘’Acapella”, Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
‘’Say It Right’’, Marina and the Diamonds ‘’I Am Not A Robot’’, Robyn
Robyn
Robin Miriam Carlsson , better known by her stage name Robyn, is a Swedish recording artist, singer, and songwriter. Robyn became known in the late nineties for her worldwide dance-pop hit "Do You Know " from her debut album Robyn Is Here . She co-wrote the song "Du gör mig hel igen" for...
‘’Cobrastyle’’, Sky Ferreira
Sky Ferreira
Sky Ferreira , is an American model, singer, songwriter, and actress. On March 22, 2011, Ferreira released her first digital extended play, As If!.-Early life:...
"One", The Noisettes
The Noisettes
Noisettes are an English indie rock band from London, comprising singer and bassist Shingai Shoniwa, guitarist Dan Smith, and drummer Jamie Morrison...
Ever Fallen in Love, and The Enemy
The Enemy (UK band)
The Enemy are an English rock band formed in Coventry in 2006, signed to Warner Music Group . In June 2007, The Enemy played twice at Glastonbury Festival, first in the 'Guardian Lounge' on Saturday and then the much larger 'Other Stage' on Sunday. They also headlined on the Saturday night of T in...
‘’No Time for Tears’’.
In January 2009, BBC 4 broadcast his 1 hour documentary Seven Photographs that Changed Fashion, in which he created his own tributes to the iconic images by Cecil Beaton
Cecil Beaton
Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, CBE was an English fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre...
, Erwin Blumenfeld
Erwin Blumenfeld
Erwin Blumenfeld was a famous American photographer of German origin.In the 1930s, he published collages mocking Adolf Hitler. In 1936, he emigrated to Paris. With the German occupation, he was interned in a concentration camp in 1940 because he was Jewish...
, Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
, Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter was a German-Australian photographer. He was a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."-Early life:Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara...
, Herb Ritts
Herb Ritts
Herbert "Herb" Ritts was an American fashion photographer who concentrated on black-and-white photography and portraits, often in the style of classical Greek sculpture.-Early life and career:...
, David Bailey and Guy Bourdin
Guy Bourdin
Guy Louis Bourdin , born Guy Louis Banarès, was a French fashion photographer.-Life and career:Guy Louis Banarès was born December 2, 1928, at 7 Rue Popincourt, Paris...
. He interviewed an array of original photographers, models and assistants, and used contemporary models including Heidi Klum
Heidi Klum
Heidi Samuel , better known by her birth name Heidi Klum, is a German model, actress, television host, businesswoman, fashion designer, television producer, and occasional singer. In 2008 she became an American citizen while maintaining her native German citizenship...
, Erin O'Connor
Erin O'Connor
-Early life:Erin O'Connor was born and brought up in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, England and went to Brownhills Community School . She was raised Catholic and her father is from Ballycastle, Northern Ireland...
, Jade Parfitt
Jade Parfitt
Jade Parfitt is a British model and presenter. She was born in Kingston upon Thames, London, England but her family moved to Devonshire, Southern England when she was 14.- Career :...
, Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor is an English singer, songwriter, model and occasional DJ. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo, achieving widespread success in the early 2000s...
, his wife Tuuli Shipster, Mollie Gondi
America's Next Top Model, Cycle 6
America's Next Top Model, Cycle 6 premiered on March 8, 2006, which would be the last cycle to air on UPN before merging with the The WB to create the The CW...
, Daphne Guinness
Daphne Guinness
The Honourable Daphne Diana Joan Suzannah Guinness is an artist of Irish, English, and French descent and an heiress of the Guinness family...
and David Gandy
David Gandy
David James Gandy is an English model.-Career:Gandy began modeling in 2002 after winning a daytime-TV model search competition . At the time he had a job delivering cars to a car magazine...
.
In 2010, Rankin travelled to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
to shoot the documentary, South Africa in Pictures. He explored the country’s rich photographic tradition, discovering how its photographers have captured this complex and turbulent nation through some remarkable images, charting the important role that photography has played in documenting its story. The same year, Rankin was commissioned by Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
and Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
’s R.E.D in the fight against HIV/AIDS, to shoot a global Nike campaign, Lace Up Save Lives, to raise awareness about the disease.
Rankin was involved with television reality show Britain's Missing Top Model
Britain's Missing Top Model
Britain's Missing Top Model was a British reality modelling show aired on BBC Three. The première episode aired on 1 July 2008.The show followed eight young women with disabilities, who competed for a modelling contract...
. The show followed eight young women with disabilities who competed for a modeling contract, which includes a photo shoot with Rankin and a cover photo in Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
. Rankin has shot for Germany's Next Topmodel, where he was a guest judge, and regularly works with the winner of Cycle 2 of Britains Next Top Model Lianna Fowler.
In 2011 Rankin served as the photography teacher in the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
series Jamie's Dream School
Jamie's Dream School
Jamie's Dream School is a seven-part British television documentary series made by Fresh One Productions, first aired on Channel 4. In it, Jamie Oliver enrols a group of teenagers with fewer than five GCSEs into his "Dream School" - a school in which lessons are taught by celebrities who are...
featuring Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver
James "Jamie" Trevor Oliver, MBE , sometimes known as The Naked Chef, is an English chef, restaurateur and media personality, known for his food-focused television shows, cookbooks and more recently his campaign against the use of processed foods in national schools...
.