Markus Klinko is an American pho­tog­ra­pher and direc­tor spe­cial­iz­ing in fash­ion and peo­ple photography.

He has worked with the most famous movie, music and fash­ion stars such as Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, David Bowie, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Anne Hathaway, Kate Winslet, Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kim Kardashian, Naomi Campbell and Iman, to name a few…

His clients include GQ, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar and Interview Magazine. Brands like Lancôme, L’Oréal Paris, Nike, Hugo Boss, Anna Sui, Pepsi, Skyy Vodka and Remy Martin have used Klinko for their adver­tis­ing cam­paigns. His Keep A Child Alive cam­paign has raised over $1 mil­lion for chil­dren with AIDS in just 3 days.

Born in Switzerland in 1960, of French, Italian and Hungarian ori­gin, Markus Klinko stud­ied music to become a harp player. He stud­ied at the National Conservatory of Music in Paris. Klinko signed an exclu­sive con­tract with EMI Classics and a con­tract with Columbia Artists Management. He received the Grand Prix du Disque with the mem­bers of the Paris Bastille Opera orchestra.

After a hand injury, Klinko decided to go into fash­ion pho­tog­ra­phy and gave up con­certs and a music career. He met the dig­i­tal artist Indrani, who became his col­lab­o­ra­tor. Isabella Blow of London Sunday Times dis­cov­ered his work and com­mis­sioned reports from him. During the same period, he began his col­lab­o­ra­tion with Interview Magazine and pro­duced the cover of Iman’s book I Am Iman and David Bowie’s Heathen record.

Markus Klinko cre­ated some of the most iconic record cov­ers of his time, includ­ing Beyoncé’s Dangerously in Love and Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi.

He pub­lished the book Icons (Perseus) con­tain­ing his most famous pho­tographs. Lincoln Center in New York hosted an exhibit fea­tur­ing many of the pho­tographs that appeared in the book. His work has since been exhib­ited in numer­ous muse­ums and art gal­leries in Europe (Opera Gallery, Monaco) and in the United States (National Portrait Gallery in Washington).