John Bishop

John Bishop was born in 1946 and grew up in the East End of London, by his mid-twenties found himself working for major fashion houses in London, Paris and New York. His career in photography wasn’t always obvious. Before discovering life behind the lens he represented England in the junior athletics and upon leaving school, tried a vast array of different jobs. Among these were journalism; acting and finally, he found work as a photographer’s assistant. Staying with photography, John Bishop moved to Paris with his girlfriend in 1966 aged 20. After she moved back to London, Bishop lived on in Paris for seven years, forming many close friendships and connections with people from many different backgrounds. He assisted several well-known Parisian photographers before embarking on his own career.

John Bishop’s career as a fashion photographer reached its peak in the 1970’s, where he worked mainly in advertising. In 1971 he won the French D&AD gold award and started working for the British publication ‘19’. In 1972 he moved to New York, where he worked for respected publications such as Saks Fifth Ave, Glamour and Seventeen.

On moving back to London with French-based model Bernadette in 1974, his work was featured upon the prestigious pages of British and Italian Vogue, Harpers&Queen, Tatler, British, French, Italian and Swedish Elle, The Sunday Times, Grazia and The Observer. His advertising work involved clients Burberry, Marks&Spencers, Miss Selfridges, Biba, Warehouse, Harrods, L’Oreal, Jaeger and Next. He has photographed various models and personas, including Linda Evangelista, Yasmin LeBon, Andi McDowell, Woody Allen, Karen Mulder and Diedre McGuire. He continues to live in London with Bernadette, as well as the South of France.