BIOGRAPHIE - ARNO BANI Arno Bani’s career began while he was still in high school. Self-taught and ambitious, he decided at the age of eighteen to take his first photographs as a means of visual self-expression. Wanting to learn the craft from the inside and in a more professional manner, he left school and spent several months working as a floor assistant at some of Paris’s best-known studios. But what he really wanted to do was go behind the lens himself. He took advantage of the facilities provided by the studios and made a push for the big time. At the age of twenty, he took his first fashion and beauty shots in Sweden, and began to make a name for himself outside of Paris. He caught the eye of Isabella Blow, fashion director for London’s Sunday Times, who saw his early work and spotted his talent. A relationship of mutual trust was formed, and they collaborated on many subsequent projects. The young Frenchman began to turn his camera to a wider range of subjects and his confidence continued to grow. His work reflected a mixture of thought and instinct, with redefined concepts of luxury and chic at the forefront. Uniting his artistic talents and tastes with those of Ora-ïto and Topolino, Arno Bani went off the beaten path of fashion to create his own visual world and express his own particular vision of the female form. Michael Jackson chanced upon Arno Bani’s work in the fashion pages of The Sunday Times, and commissioned the photographer to capture his image in a series of portraits. At the age of just twenty- three, Arno Bani found himself face to face with a living legend. This collaboration sealed Arno Bani’s reputation as one of the most talented photographers of his generation. He then received commissions from fashion houses and luxury brands such as Christian Lacroix, Givenchy, and Cartier, and from musicians like David Guetta, Bob Sinclar, and the band Air. By the age of twenty-five, Arno Bani was a photographer whose fame had spread beyond the fashion world. Bringing opposites together and blending classicism and modernity, his monochromatic approach to imagemaking could soon be seen everywhere. His work appeared in the pages of Citizen K, Spoon, Visionaire, and Jalouse, and he photographed Monica Bellucci, Mélanie Thierry, and Noémie Lenoir. While his early work was marked by Red-Black and Puzzle symbolism, Arno Bani’s later portraits began to focus on hyperrealism and what he calls “hypermatter.” This transition was accompanied by the use of new printing and photographic techniques. In 2003, the Nicolas Hulot Foundation chose him to produce an advertising campaign, which was subsequently awarded second place in the photography category by the Club des Directeurs Artistiques. Early in 2004, Arno Bani made his first film, the video for Rocking Music by French DJ and producer Martin Solveig. This led him to shoot his first commercial for the fragrance Hugo Boss Deep Red, starring Anouk Lepère, as well as a Club Internet ad campaign in early 2005. In the summer of 2005, the talented art buyer Isabelle Baud chose Bani to produce the film and photo campaign for the opening of the new Modern Art Museum in Val-de-Marne (MAC/VAL). Using the motto “Venez prendre l’art” (“A breath of fresh art”), he took the conventions of modern art and projected them into his own creative world, stressing the richness of the colors and materials and giving them a more human dimension. The film won silver at Eurobest Live 2005, the European awards for creative excellence. In early 2006, Arno Bani directed the video for Happy Therapy by Demon, starring Ora-ïto and Vahina Giocante, which was made to promote the first antidepressant perfume, Smiley. In this film, he experimented with 3D graphics, creating a spinning Rubik’s Cube of images. Arno Bani was also in charge of shooting the Smiley perfume campaign. Later that same year, he created a highly successful print campaign for TPS, using a series of heavily made-up eyes to promote the launch of a high- definition TV service. He then directed a memorable video for the song Butterfly by Superbus, in which the band and their instruments are gradually covered in glitter. Also in 2006, Arno’s work for MAC/VAL won him another honour, this time being chosen to appear in the prestigious D&AD annual. He was not yet thirty years old. In 2007, Arno Bani created an advertising campaign and sales catalog for a new high-end jewelry brand, Akillis. The brand offered “an ultramodern view, combining boldness and freedom of style,” and the photographs reflected this youthful and innovative spirit. In the same year, Jérôme Coste commissioned Arno Bani to shoot print ads for Les Ateliers Ruby, his prestigious brand of motorcycle helmets, taking an artistic approach that brought sport and aesthetics together. Throughout this period, Bani continued to work with friends including the young French designer Ora-ïto, and the actress Mélanie Thierry, whose portrait he shot. Contemporary artists in the film, fashion and music industries looked to Arno Bani to capture their images. He was invited to work with Frédéric Beigbeder, Xavier Veilhan, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Irina Volkonskii, the music group Air, and the art collective Kolkoz, whose work aims to reshape the world and make anything possible through a constant and dynamic rebuilding process. In 2009, Awdio.com, a website that allows people to listen to live music worldwide, approached Arno Bani to shoot photographs for a web campaign. In 2010, he signed with the brand Samsung and shot a series of ads. In december 2010, in association with Mr.Pierre Bergé, Arno Bani unveiled his unreleased portraits of Michael Jackson during a special auction orchestrated by auctioneer Fédéric Chambre. Several books are edited with Pierre Bergé and associates and Éditions du Chêne. In early 2011, Arno Bani is the director of a music video starring the american rapper Flo Rida, in Miami.