piper carter

I’ve shot for British Elle and worked as a freelance assistant for many of the top photographers in the world, and as a studio assistant at three of the top studios in the world: Pier 59, Industria, and Splashlight Studios in New York City.


I was an assistant to maverick photographer Steven Klein for three years. I worked on the the most famous projects of his career including the series with Brad Pitt and the other series with Madonna. Working with him was wonderful. It allowed me to travel the world, learn about lighting, art, film, and painting. Later, I assisted David Seidner (r.i.p.) on his last two projects before he passed away, including a series of famous portraits of Naomi Campbell and Leontine Price, among others, and a series for Vanity Fair paying homage to the painter John Singer Sargent.


In addition, I also assisted many other critically acclaimed photographers including Craig McDean, John Akehurst, Max Vadukul, Torkil Gudnason, Patrick Cariou, Sean Ellis, Nicolas Moore, Ranjit Grewal, Regan Cameron, Gilles Bensimon, Iris Brosch, Karina Tiara, Kenneth Willardt, Richard Corman, Robert Maxwell, Jack Guy, Kwaku Alston, Wayne Maser, Sioux Nesi, Fabio Chizzola, and Daniella Federici.


Working with these amazing photographers, I learned to think and rethink what is there in front of the lens and sometimes what is not, and how to create an image of a character that is believable and truthful, even if it is a reality that exists only on the page.


I enable the viewer to see the creature inside and how light makes it come alive. My main visual inspirations are the great painters of the Northern Renaissance, particularly Vermeer, and his use of posing and lighting, assumed honesty with his subjects, and his ability to make complex compositions look simple. Gordon Parks also played a pivotal role in my development as a photographer. As a source of inspiration he embodies the artist as thinker, visionary, pioneer, scholar, and revolutionary figure.


I am an artist first, then a fashion photographer. My artistic philosophy: I believe in the idea that the woman is to be cherished, respected, and revered. There is power and beauty in a dignified woman, who is sexy, yet soft, and intelligent, not merely demure, docile, or fragile. My subjects own their strength and femininity simultaneously. My ideal Beauty comes from the strength, dynamism, and charisma of the individual. My images celebrate life and embrace the spirit within while reaching beyond the moment of reality and creating a new reality or fantasy.


Piper Carter: Visionary.


I've shot editorials for British Elle, New York Times, Trace, Spin, King, Mass Appeal, & other publications, emerging talent for Def Jam Records & advertising for McCann Erickson, Candies, The Ad Council. Graduating from FIT May 2007 with a BFA in Photography & Digital Media, I completed an internship @ Vogue Magazine in the Photo Dept assisting the photo research team with editorial content for the magazine and the Poiret exhibition featured this past summer @the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Costume Institute. I covered behind the scenes of the Fall '07 collections @ Olympus Fashion Week for AOL's Stylelist.com & Spring '08 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week collections for FashionIndie.com & MuseMag.net. My video of the Maria Cornejo collection was featured on French Vogue's website. My most current work is presented in the October & November '07 issues of Essence Magazine, & SixDegreesMag.com.