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PORTRAIT
Steven Lyons career was forged by Andy Warhols lens on Sunset Boulevard in 1982. For more than three decades, Steven crafted a creative legacy both in front of and behind the lens. Considered one of the greatest male supermodels in the world in the 1980s, Steven Lyon lends his physique to the greatest designers: Versace, Claude Montana, Jean Paul Gaultier, Cerruti... and to the most emblematic photographers: Paolo Roversi, Mario Testino, or Guy Bourdin. In 1989 and 1991, Victor Skrebneski paid homage to him with the controversial Chicago Film Festival poster, representing him naked alongside Deborah Harris. After years in Paris, he left the industry in 1993. Five years later, he sold his house in Los Angeles and moved to Paris, determined to return to the world of fashion, but this time other side of the device. Inspired by cinema and photographers like Helmut Newton, Peter Lindberg, and Herb Ritz, Steven finds a singular style and signature: an excessively contrasting grain, often highlighted by Black & White. During a trip to Namibia with supermodel Lara Stone, he fell in love with Africa and its people. He then multiplied safaris in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, discovering a passion for wildlife photography. He will shoot Something That Matters a raw documentary denouncing poaching and corruption threatening the entire rhinoceros species with extinction. The film addresses many of the atrocities committed by man on African wildlife. In 2013, he founded “Lyonheartlove” a non-profit organization aimed at raising awareness of the horrors of poaching, and the joys of wildlife conservation. Steven Lyon now lives between New York and Paris and devotes himself to his organization, his film projects and his love for photography.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
The Lyon style, in 5 words?
I am a storyteller. Raw, sensual, cinematic and always evocative.
Your modeling career started with a photo of you taken by Andy Warhol?
Thats what they say, in fact ... I was not yet a model, I was already living in Los Angeles. A man came up to me and said I looked like someone Andy would like to meet, urging me to be at the Mondrian Hotel by 8pm to meet him. At that time, I didnt know who it was and my father-in-law then told me that Id be crazy if I didnt go. So I followed his advice. He opened the door and said to me; you are really, really beautiful The next morning he photographed me by the pool in my underwear. (Laughs). After this shoot, Andy Warhol invited me to his Factory in New York. Ive never been there. It was not my world. Looking back, I still imagine how much fun it must have been, New York at that time, Studio 54…. Modeling came to me in Paris. This was where I had to go. And I had a blast, oh yes ! I would never have survived the NYC of that time (laughs).
Did you save the photo?
The photo was published in Interview magazine. I didnt ! But I asked the Warhol Archivists to find it for me
What do you remember most of your career as a model in Paris?
First and foremost, it was extraordinarily fun But more importantly, it showed me the world. I made friends, real friends, and opened my door to a new and opulent world. I lived in Paris for most of my modeling career and for most of my work as a photographer as well. When I became a photographer, I knew that Paris would be the place where I was going to find my way. Ive had an apartment in Paris for 20 years and I always have a foothold there. Paris is home to very good memories and I met my closest friends and the most faithful relations there.
- Find the continuation of Steven Lyon dans Normal Magazine n°1 and n°10 -
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