Jerry Avenaim

Jerry Avenaim (born August 21, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American photographer best known for his fashion and celebrity images.

Early life

Avenaim's parents left Egypt and went to Paris, France, during the Suez Canal crisis in the 1950s and later emigrated to the United States where he was born. As a teenager, Avenaim got his first camera — an all-manual 35mm Exakta that his father had brought over from Paris. He was raised in Chicago, Illinois.

Career

Early work

At age 19, Avenaim started his career as assistant to photographer Patrick Demarchelier in New York. When he began to work independently in 1985 his first assignment was a foreign edition Vogue cover of supermodel Cindy Crawford. Later he lived and worked out of Milan for Italian Vogue under the direction of Editor in Chief Franca Sozzani.

Commercial photography

Avenaim resides in Los Angeles, California, and his work contains a focus on portrait photography of higher-end clientele. Avenaim has photographed fashion and celebrity for magazines including Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, and Glamour. His work has appeared on the covers of Vogue, Newsweek, People, TV Guide, and Detour. Avenaim's celebrity portraits include Halle Berry, Helen Hunt, Jeff Bridges, Mel Gibson, Phil McGraw, Angela Bassett, Patricia Arquette, Brooke Shields, and Julia Roberts. Avenaim's photo of Halle Berry appeared on the cover of the People (magazine) Yearbook issue as Picture of the Year in January 2003.