Framing Klinko in MAXIM Australia

Legendary photographer Markus Klinko shares a gallery of his superbly iconic celebrity images and reveals the stories behind them, including his latest work starring actor Joe Manganiello.

Celebrity photographer Markus Klinko has been lensing some of the most enduring imagery across music, pop culture and fashion for over three decades. The Swiss-born snapper’s distinct style first entered the zeitgeist in the early 2000s after he was "forced" by record labels to ditch fashion magazines and start shooting album sleeves during the golden age of CDs. Klinko is the genius behind the covers of Beyonce’s Dangerously In Love, Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi and the Black Eyed Peas’ Elephunk.

Markus, your work was so influential in defining the aesthetics of 2000s music. What is it about your photography style that resonated with the music of that era?

I came from a music background, I had a successful, although short, career as a concert harpist and recording artist. In 1994 I had a very strange issue with my hand that forced me to quit my career and I taught myself photography. I feel in terms of colours and textures and all that, the brain probably has a lot of parallels between sound and visual, and since I had no formal training in photography it’s something I pulled from the musical background.

"I shot Beyonce for the first time in 2000 for Vibe magazine, when she was part of Destiny’s Child. I knew she was a superstar right away. In 2003, Beyonce asked me to shoot the cover of her debut solo album, Dangerously In Love. She is a hard worker and an intuitive and intelligent model. She knows what to do. The pose on the cover just happened — it was not me directing her. She just snapped into it and I knew immediately that this was the shot."

I was creating things in the ’90s that you look at now and people say, "Oh is that AI?" and it’s work that’s almost 30 years old.

"In 2004, Britney was on top of the world, ready to go on her Onyx tour. She asked me to shoot the tour campaign. This image captures Britney’s confidence, attitude and energy. She was super smart and it was one of the best experiences of my career."

David Bowie

He wasn’t petite but he was thin and sort of short, maybe 5’11”. He was male model size. Bowie was just very elegant and incredibly fashionable and photogenic. Smartest person you could imagine and such a well-researched man and very kind.

"I met Paris Hilton in 2000, when she was very young and not yet as famous. We took these photos at the former Greta Garbo estate in Beverly Hills and this series is called ‘Paris in Wonderland’ as it has a strong, surreal vibe, a couture fashion fantasy with an old Hollywood feel."

"I photographed Lady Gaga for the 35th anniversary celebration of Hello Kitty. She loved the images so much that her label included them in the iconic re-issue of her debut album, The Fame Monster."

Jennifer Lopez

I’m so proud my photographs can live in art galleries next to Warhols, Picasso, Lichtenstein. In my head I’m an assignment photographer, I created my entire body of work by commissions for album covers and magazines like MAXIM, GQ, Playboy.

Will & Jada Pinkett Smith

I’m literally planning the Doechii shoot as an art gallery production — she’ll use it as an album cover, of course, but I’m imagining people in a gallery walking up to it next to Beyonce, next to Bowie and saying, "This is the new hip hop goddess of our time."