Jade Albert
American
My name is Jade Albert and I started my career as a photographer in the 1970’s, when the worlds of fashion, high society, and pop culture were blending in a way they never had before. “This was a world where classifications and categories seemed to fall by the wayside,” wrote Ingrid Sischy, “…where traditional society and new society, uptown and downtown, the powerful and the powerless, young and old, all danced” together. And I was an insider for all of it, and always inside the ropes.
From 1975 to 1983, I was invited to photograph more galas, events, and parties than I can remember, including New York and International Fashion Weeks. My incredible access was made possible in large part because of my role as a contributing photographer on the masthead of Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. I worked with Grace Mirabella for Vogue, and for Carrie Donovan at Harper’s Bazaar and later at The New York Times Sunday Magazine. Because of my status, I was able to develop relationships—some of which continue to this day— or at least familiarity with a host of colorful people, which afforded me the opportunity to capture some rare, candid, and intimate moments. Moreover, that access, and the publications I worked for, shaped my point of view, helping me to create a body of work that separated me from the frenzied desperation of the paparazzi. I was the rare young woman working at a time when most photographers were men. My camera was my talisman; I was lucky to be right on time at the right places to be.
“The ‘80s were the last great burst of madness of the twentieth century,” as designer Carolina Herrera once said. “The world and New York in particular went wild.” I can attest to that. I shot parties at Studio 54 from 1977 to 1980, and so many other clubs including Regine’s and the Ritz. Uptown, I photographed the Met Gala chaired by Jackie Onassis and other high profile events, capturing images of the Reagans, the William F. Buckleys, Halston, Barry Diller, Diane von Furstenberg, and more. Many of those people lived in both worlds, a precursor of the future.
I photographed a private dinner with Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and Candice Bergen. There wasn't a major fashion figure of my generation that I didn’t photograph — Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Bill Blass, Perry Ellis, Armani, Versace, Valentino. I endeavored to create context, dare I say, the story of those times, before AIDS changed everything.
I’m best known for my work specializing in children’s advertising from the mid-1980s to the present. But prior to my launch of Jade Albert Studio, Inc., I photographed the world described above — one inhabited with what we now call icons and influencers. I believe my black-and-white photos of that remarkable period remain fresh and rare, portraying culturally significant and memorable moments. As a buyer of photography myself, and given my many years of experience in the field, I sincerely believe there is a meaningful market for my historical archive of the 1970s and 1980s.
From 1975 to 1983, I was invited to photograph more galas, events, and parties than I can remember, including New York and International Fashion Weeks. My incredible access was made possible in large part because of my role as a contributing photographer on the masthead of Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. I worked with Grace Mirabella for Vogue, and for Carrie Donovan at Harper’s Bazaar and later at The New York Times Sunday Magazine. Because of my status, I was able to develop relationships—some of which continue to this day— or at least familiarity with a host of colorful people, which afforded me the opportunity to capture some rare, candid, and intimate moments. Moreover, that access, and the publications I worked for, shaped my point of view, helping me to create a body of work that separated me from the frenzied desperation of the paparazzi. I was the rare young woman working at a time when most photographers were men. My camera was my talisman; I was lucky to be right on time at the right places to be.
“The ‘80s were the last great burst of madness of the twentieth century,” as designer Carolina Herrera once said. “The world and New York in particular went wild.” I can attest to that. I shot parties at Studio 54 from 1977 to 1980, and so many other clubs including Regine’s and the Ritz. Uptown, I photographed the Met Gala chaired by Jackie Onassis and other high profile events, capturing images of the Reagans, the William F. Buckleys, Halston, Barry Diller, Diane von Furstenberg, and more. Many of those people lived in both worlds, a precursor of the future.
I photographed a private dinner with Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and Candice Bergen. There wasn't a major fashion figure of my generation that I didn’t photograph — Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Bill Blass, Perry Ellis, Armani, Versace, Valentino. I endeavored to create context, dare I say, the story of those times, before AIDS changed everything.
I’m best known for my work specializing in children’s advertising from the mid-1980s to the present. But prior to my launch of Jade Albert Studio, Inc., I photographed the world described above — one inhabited with what we now call icons and influencers. I believe my black-and-white photos of that remarkable period remain fresh and rare, portraying culturally significant and memorable moments. As a buyer of photography myself, and given my many years of experience in the field, I sincerely believe there is a meaningful market for my historical archive of the 1970s and 1980s.
