Twiggy, Bella Freud and more: Steven Meisel’s masterful London portraits – in pictures

The iconic fashion photographer has been crowned a master at this year’s Photo London – a rare exhibition of his stunning work in the capital proves why ‘Anarchic sense of fashion’. Honor Fraser, London, 1993 Thu 7 May 2026 08.00 CEST Camilla Nickerson, New York, 1993 The legendary fashion photographer Steven Meisel is this year’s Master of Photography at Photo London 2026. Despite his phenomenal work rate Meisel, who rarely speaks in the press and never on social media, has published very little, and has had just a handful of public exhibitions. This rare showing of his work highlights Meisel’s photography in London, and in particular his iconic Anglo-Saxon Attitude series. Steven Meisel: Master of Photography is at Olympia, London, from 13 to 17 May Guardian readers can use the code GUARDIAN to redeem 20% off tickets Marlon Richards, New York, 1993 ‘Steven’s agreement to present a group of London portraits is a rare and special thing for the fair,’ says co-founder Michael Benson, who has worked with Meisel before Honor Fraser, London, 1993 Meisel’s first professional assignment in London came on the back of his collaboration with Madonna whose iconic book Sex had, for the first time, given him the freedom to work on a huge project sprawling across several weeks as opposed to the two- or three-day shoots that were the norm Isabella Blow, Paris, 1993 Meisel came to London to work with Isabella Blow on Anglo-Saxon Attitude for British Vogue. He recalled: ‘Issie just gave me all these different pictures of society girls she knew’ Stella Tennant, London, 1993 One of them was Stella Tennant – Meisel was enchanted: ‘I fell in love with Stella, with everything about Stella. What an incredible model. She would sit there reading books in Chinese. She was just great’ Honor Fraser, London, 1993 Meisel coached each of the models he worked with to achieve exactly the pose and attitude he had in mind. Working in a series of locations ranging from alleyways in Spitalfields, the docklands to canal locks and towpaths to the streets of Notting Hill and Portobello Road, Meisel’s portraits captured London’s anarchic sense of fashion Stella Tennant and Plum Sykes, London, 1993 Stella Tennant wasn’t his only pick from Blow’s list. In a crowded London pub Meisel had Vogue fashion assistant Plum Sykes pose on a table in a silver bikini while jaded punters watched the football Bella Freud, London, 1993 Sykes, who went on to work with Alexander McQueen, described Meisel as ‘mesmeric’ – a word frequently echoed by the models he worked with on this first London shoot – including Honor Fraser, Lady Louise Campbell and Bella Freud, who summed up the punk spirit of the time: ‘You had to deconstruct your manners and be as rude as possible’ Lucy Ferry, Paris, 1993 Meisel’s understanding of all aspects of fashion is unparalleled and his influence has nurtured the careers of numerous models. His portraits are a spectacular testament to his ability to see what other people miss: ‘I think I’m good with discovering people, whether or not they are a model. I see things in them that they might not see’ Twiggy, New York, 1993 Meisel was commissioned to create a 10-page spread on Twiggy for Italian Vogue. Unbeknown to Twiggy, Meisel had met her once before when he was only 12 years old and had bunked off school with his friend to watch her while she was first in New York on a shoot in 1967 Marlon Richards, New York, 1993 Marlon Richards, son of Keith Richards, was a frequent subject for Meisel during the early 1990s, notably featuring in iconic 1993 Vogue Italia and Per Lui shoots Lucy Ferry, Paris, 1993 Meisel captured model Lucy Ferry in Paris, when she was married to Roxy Music’s lead singer Bryan Ferry. Here she wears Christian Lacroix, for the shoot that would later appear in Vogue Italia