Audrey Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, and other of America’s most famous historical icons are back, thanks to French photographer Etienne Clotis and his team. For his ongoing series ICONIC, Clotis transforms models into these famous personages for one epic portrait.
Clotis is a fashion photographer by trade, but for ICONIC he’s switched gears somewhat. His stylized portraits bring some of the most influential people of the past back to life for a single image, and the skill with which he and his team “resurrect” these icons is astounding.
Each image is stylized in some way to offer a hint (or sometimes to blatantly reveal) who the person in the image is, but you’d hardly need it. From the choice of models, to makeup, to posing and hair, every portrait is a dead ringer for the person it’s trying to portray.
This particular selection is all American icons, but the 100-photo project goes well beyond the USA’s borders. To see more of the over 100 portraits Clotis has captured, head over to the Iconic website by clicking here.
And if you’re interested in exploring more of his non-Iconic work, you can find Clotis online at his website and through Facebook.
Image credits: All photographs by Etienne Clotis and used with permission.
