Douglas Kirkland

Douglas started his career at Look and Life in the ‘60s and ‘70s “golden age” of photojournalism. He has worked on the set of over 100 motion pictures—including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Out of Africa, Titanic, Moulin Rouge—and produced iconic images of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Angelina Jolie, and Antonio Banderas. His books include Light Years, Legends, Body Stories, An Evening with Marilyn, and James Cameron’s best-selling Titanic. He has received numerous awards, including a Lucie for Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment Photography, 2003; Golden Eye of Russia, April 2006; and Lifetime Achievement (CAPIC) in his native Toronto, Canada, May 2006. Current projects include “Freeze Frame: An Intimate Look Behind the Scenes” and “The Women in My Life.” Kirkland’s work has been exhibited worldwide.  

Douglas Kirkland was born in Toronto Canada. He joined Look Magazine in his early twenties, and later Life Magazine during the golden age of 60s/70s photojournalism. Among his assignments were essays on Greece, Lebanon and Japan as well as fashion and celebrity work, photographing Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlene Dietrich among others.

Through the years, Douglas Kirkland has worked on the sets of over one hundred motion pictures. Among them, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "2001 A Space Odyssey", "Out of Africa", "Titanic", "Moulin Rouge", and "Australia" Baz Luhrmann's epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman to be released in 2008

Some of his books are Light Years, Icons, Legends, Body Stories, An Evening With Marilyn, the best selling James Cameron's Titanic and Freeze Frame a decade by decade look behind the scenes from 50 years photographing the entertainment industry published in October 2007

He was one of the producers and photographers of "A Day In the Life of Canada".

Douglas Kirkland's fine arts photography has been exhibited all over the world, his exhibition Freeze Frame at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills will be up from January till the end of April 2008. He is also a sought after lecturer. He is a member of the prestigious Hewlett Packard's Photo Influencers and Canon's Explorers of Light and as well as an associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers. Some of the awards he has received include a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the American S.O.C., Photographer of the Year from the PMA, a Lucie Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment Photography from the IPA in 2003, The Golden Eye of Russia in April 2006 and a Life Time Achievement Award from CAPIC in his native Toronto Canada in May 2006. In October 2007, Douglas received an Honorary Master of Fine Arts Degree from Brooks Institute for his deep commitment and dedication to his profession. Among his current book projects are a Black & White volume "When We Were Young", Coco Chanel to be published in August of 2008 and "Face to Face" a book of portraits for the Fall of 2009 all by Glitterati.

Some additional subjects of Kirkland's have been:
Coco Chanel
Pierre Cardin
Katherine Hepburn
Charlie Chaplin
Judy Garland
Orson Welles
John Wayne
Faye Dunaway
Robert Redford
Sophia Loren
Barbara Streisand
Gong Li
Pierce Brosnan
Gene Hackman
Angelina Jolie
Ewan Mc Gregor
and Renee Zellwiger

Kirkland's assignments have taken him to all continents in the world (with the exception of Antarctica) where he worked on subjects as varied as: Astronomy in Chile, to The Trans Siberian Railroad, and fashion in Bali.

When not traveling the globe on assignment, his home and studio is in the Hollywood Hills where he lives with his wife and business partner Francois.