Terry Richardson is an American photographer known for his flash-lit celebrity portraits, often against a plain white wall. When I was younger, I loved this very direct photography, often funny, sometimes downright vulgar. But the sexual assault allegations wrecked all the admiration I had for this guy and his work, which I now see very differently.

Terry Richardson was born in New York and grew up in California. His father, Bob Richardson, was himself an acclaimed fashion photographer. Terry started out playing bass in punk bands, before turning to photography and finding his place in the magazines of the 1990s. A shoot for Vibe opened the door to advertising, with a Katharine Hamnett campaign in 1995.