A Tupac book, exhibition in Milan to spotlight Michel Haddi’s photography – WWD

MILAN — A book and a double exhibition in Milan are set to highlight the work of French-Algerian photographer Michel Haddi.

The 40-page glossy volume entitled “Tupac – The Legend” is dedicated to the late rapper Tupac Shakur. is widely considered one of the most influential artists of all time. The book, released Wednesday to mark the anniversary of his death, centers on a previously unpublished collection of images of Shakur that Haddi took in his Los Angeles studio in 1993, three years before the rapper was killed.

The book is available in a limited edition of 500 numbered copies, each hand-signed by Haddi. It also features quotes from Shakur and costs £100. Additionally, a limited edition of 50 books in a black box with a hand-signed and numbered print will create a collector’s item with a retail price of £1,500.

The book’s release will be followed by a series of events and meet-and-greet opportunities across Europe and the US, as well as Haddi’s first major solo exhibition in Milan.

The retrospective, hosted by the city’s 29 Arts In Progress gallery, will span two consecutive exhibitions, with the first opening on October 19 and running until December 22, and the second scheduled to run from January 16 to March 16 next year .

Under the title “Michel Haddi: Beyond Fashion”, the exhibition shows a selection of the most exemplary images from Haddi’s career – which spans more than 40 years – as well as part of his archive with portraits of top models and icons from the world of music and art, including Malcolm X’s daughters, Liza Minnelli, David Bowie, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and Angelina Jolie, to name a few. The exhibition will also show unexpected photographs of Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, Stephanie Seymour, Yasmin Le Bon and Veruschka, among others.

Highlights of the exhibition include a 1989 image of Naomi Campbell taken at the Café de Flore in Paris for British Vogue and a 1992 photo of Malcolm X’s daughters Ilyasah Shabazz and Gamilah Shabazz for Interview Magazine .

“This is very important to me. It was [the] Meeting of the century. “I wanted to meet Malcolm X’s daughters in New York,” Haddi said of the latter. “When I met Ilyasah and Gamilah, I tried to play around with a double image. So if you look closely, this picture shows one pair in the front and one in the back. And when you look at it at the beginning, you don’t realize it, but there are four hands, not two,” he added, emphasizing that his goal was “to show something beautiful, like an Egyptian princess.”

Overall, the retrospective aims to highlight how Haddi managed to capture the spirit of his time through the faces that shaped the history of fashion, film and music, as well as his intimate and personal view of photography.

Haddi was born in Paris in 1956 and had a turbulent childhood. She moved between foster families until she was six, eventually ending up at the Sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul orphanage in the French capital. During this time, Haddi’s mother brought him copies of Vogue, which fascinated him throughout his childhood. Inspired by a special photograph by Helmut Newton, Haddi dreamed of leaving the city and becoming a photographer.

After a journey that took him through Saudi Arabia, he began helping others in 1970. In London he met his lifelong mentor Victor Herbert, who set him on the path to success. So Haddi opened his first studio in 1980 and began working with glossy magazines such as GQ and British Vogue. The following year he was commissioned by Vogue Hommes for a 10-page photo shoot, which led to a long partnership that took him to Italy, where in 1985 he met the late editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia, Franca Sozzani.

From 1989 he moved through New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London and Milan, establishing important editorial collaborations and photographing advertising campaigns for companies such as Armani, Yves Saint-Laurent, Emilio Pucci, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, Bloomingdales and Guerlain, to name just a few to name a few.

This work will be highlighted in the second phase of his Milan exhibition, which promises to showcase Haddi’s colorful work alongside his sophisticated black and white photography.

Both phases of the retrospective will be accompanied by a series of live events featuring Haddi, with the aim of encouraging the public not only to engage with his work, but also to interact with him personally.

The double exhibition also marks the 10th anniversary of the 29 Arts In Progress gallery, which represents internationally renowned photographers. This also includes Gian Paolo Barbieri, to whom the gallery recently dedicated an exhibition, as reported.

Since its inception, 29 Arts In Progress has also curated exhibitions in collaboration with public and private institutions such as the V&A Museum; Hong Kong Arts Centre; Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow; Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art in Saint Petersburg, in addition to the Palazzo Reale and the Triennale in Milan.