Fashion Photographer Erik Madigan Heck Debuts New Book

Erik Madigan Heck is showing off his many talents in “The Tapestry,” a new Thames & Hudson-published book that features 180 of his works.

Blending photographs and painting, the monograph — as its title suggests — draws from historic tapestries, as well as Impressionist and contemporary paintings. Many know Heck for his fashion photography, which has included work for Nike, Thom Browne, Gucci, Van Cleef & Arpels, Neiman Marcus and Comme des Garçons, among others. For this project, the creative reimagined some of his previous images by cropping, recoloring and retooling them.

Like many creative endeavors, Heck decided three years ago it was time to do a book during the pandemic shutdown. En route from Paris following shooting for seven days straight for Van Cleef & Arpels and Harper’s Bazaar, Heck said via email the impetus for “The Tapestry” was having more time on his hands than he knew what to do with.

Looking to move beyond photography, Heck realized that most of his favorite artists paint from photographs, whereas he reimagines his own photographs as paintings. Heck singled out Édouard Vuillard, Gerhard Richter, Harry Callahan, Marlene Dumas, Pierre Bonnard and Caspar David Friedrich as some of his favorite artists. More than anything, he sees himself as “a colorist,” and the pages of the new book reflect that. (Fans of his photography can rest easy though, knowing that he remains tethered to that profession.)

As for what others might learn from his creative process, Heck said, “Hopefully that it’s OK to make work that is classically beautiful and doesn’t need to include perversity to be contemporary.”

Created with the design studio, A Practice for Everyday Life, the book details Heck’s craft and the interconnections between photography, fashion and the broader world of contemporary art. Beyond the images, readers will find insights from the interview with Heck in the book. Heck’s other titles include “Old Future,” “The Garden,” “The Language of Flowers,” “January to August,” “No Photos Please” and “The Absorbed Tradition.” He is also the founding director of Nomenus, an annual art publication. Heck will join Vince Aletti at the Rizzoli book store in New York City Wednesday night to talk about the new title and his artistic process.