Johnny Rozsa is a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

, specializing in fashion, portrait, and celebrity photography.

Early life

Rozsa was born and raised in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, the son of Jewish Hungarian-Czech parents. Franks, Lynne. ''Absolutely Now!: A Futurist's Journey to Her Inner Truth.'' London: Century, 1997. p. 69. In the early 1960s he moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where he attended

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 census was 2,707, increasing to 2 ...

, graduating in 1967.Davies, Lucy
"Johnny Rozsa Photographs: Big Hair, Small Egos."
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

''. 22 September 2010.Johnny Rozsa
on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Training and career

Rozsa studied architecture, painting, and communications at Manchester College of Art and Design,''The British Journal of Photography.'' Vol. 127 (1980). p. 6.McMahon, Milly and Sarah Raphael
"Johnny Rozsa 'Untouched'".
'' i-D'' Online. 21 September 2010. and communications at Polytechnic of Central London. Afterwards, he interned at '' Vogue''. He later ran a vintage shop called Nostalgia in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

, where he met fashion editors, models, actors, and photographers on a daily basis.Miss Rosen.
''Untouched'': Interview with Author Johnny Rozsa
, lipsticktracez.com. July 27, 2009. In the late 1970s Rozsa began his photography career, working in Nairobi, London, and the U.S. By 1978, he had a series of four full-page celebrity portraits in '' Ritz'', with accompanying interviews. Rozsa has photographed celebrities such as

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as a charming and vulnerable romantic leading man, and has since transitioned into a character actor. He has received List of awards ...

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry ( ; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant of 1986 and also placing six ...

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...

John Malkovich John Gavin Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and ...

, and Natasha Richardson since the late 1970s. His photographs have appeared in numerous publications, including '' Vogue'', the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', '' BLITZ'', '' i-D'', ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

'', '' The Face'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

''. His portraits of

Ian Charleson Ian Charleson (11 August 1949 – 6 January 1990) was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Academy Award, Oscar-winning 1981 film ''Chariots ...

, Sade, Marilyn, and Martin Degville are part of the permanent collection at the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

in London. His photographs of Leigh Bowery have been exhibited in several museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, the Kunsthalle in Vienna, and the Kunstverein in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. Rozsa has also exhibited at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

''Untouched''

In 2010 Rozsa published a book, ''Untouched'', featuring unretouched photos of 115 now world-famous celebrities, from their days before airbrushing, PhotoShop, digital cameras and enhancements, cosmetic surgery, and perfect images. The book has a foreword by

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

, and launched at

Barneys Barneys New York is an American brand founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman that operated full-line department stores from 1923 until 2020. Authentic Brands Group acquired Barneys' intellectual property in 2019, and has licensed the brand to Saks ...

in New York City.

Personal life

Rozsa was introduced to Buddhism by

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

in 1982, and has been a

Nichiren Buddhist Nichiren Buddhism (), also known as ''Hokkeshū'' (, meaning ''Lotus Sect''), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period schools ...

since then.Rozsa, Johnny. ''Untouched''. Glitterati, 2010. p. 169. He lives in New York City.

Bibliography

*Rozsa, Johnny. ''Untouched''. Glitterati, 2010.

References

External links

Slideshow of Rozsa's photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozsa, Johnny British fashion photographers American portrait photographers Photographers from New York City People educated at Repton School Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the University of Westminster American people of Czech-Jewish descent American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent People from Nairobi Kenyan expatriates in the United States Kenyan Jews Kenyan people of Czech descent Kenyan people of Hungarian descent British emigrants to the United States Living people Year of birth missing (living people)