Katie Burnett USA, 1985

After first studying Studio Art in the United States, she subsequently attended the Istituto Marangoni in London, where she would begin her career in fashion. Over the years since, Burnett has honed a playful and creative approach across her work, collaborating extensively with world-renowned photographers on both commercial and editorial assignments. It was during periods of pandemic lockdown, however, that Burnett turned to producing her own images, translating her signature playfulness into inky black and white compositions. 

 

Her images often capture disorienting impressions of the artist’s body, abstract traces of her immediate surroundings, and an unlikely role call of ordinary household objects reimagined in animated forms. The possibility for movement, which underpins much of her work in fashion, is also embodied in Burnett’s photographic process. Contorting herself within the frame, conjuring a range of visual effects, and operating the camera simultaneously became a challenging dance, lending her images a unique sense of perspective. Elsewhere, Burnett’s work takes nostalgic cues from film, design, and vintage photography from the 1940s to the 1960s.

 

Cabin Fever, Burnett’s first photobook, was published by Art Paper Editions in 2021. A second title, I Wash, You Dry, will be published by the New York-based Dashwood Books in 2022. Burnett is Fashion Director of Centrefold Magazine, as well as a regular contributor to M Le Magazine du Monde, Luncheon, American Vogue, Re-Edition and Holiday. A list of further clients includes Alaia, Burberry, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Helmut Lang, Isabel Marant, i-D Magazine, Fantastic Man and Vogue Italia.