Markus Klinko is a Swiss-born fashion and celebrity photographer, born in Winterthur in 1961. He first trained as a classical harpist at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and recorded for EMI Classics. His recording of French harp music won the Grand Prix du Disque.
A hand injury ended his music career, and he turned to photography without formal training. Isabella Blow, then at the London Sunday Times, commissioned cover stories from him early on. His best-known images include the covers of David Bowie’s album Heathen (2002) and Beyoncé’s Dangerously in Love (2003). He has also photographed Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey and Iman, and created campaigns for brands such as L’Oréal Paris, Lancôme and Nike.
He was an early user of digital photography in advertising. With Indrani he published Icons: The Celebrity Exposures of Markus and Indrani (Running Press, 2012), and the two were the subject of the Bravo series Double Exposure. His work has been shown at Lincoln Center in New York.
