Coffin

Clifford (1916). American photographer, born in Chicago. He moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at the local university. He worked in the advertising departments of MGM and Texaco and, in this way, he entered photography. He got his professional start under the guidance of Cecil Beaton, even though his photographs showed the surrealist influence of George Platt Lynes, with whom he studied in New York. For 14 years, from 1944 to 1958, he worked in New York, London, and Paris (his very elegant sets in Versailles were famous) for the most important fashion magazines, including Glamour, Vogue, and Jardin des Modes. He was also a famous portraitist, as seen in the many photos of writers and artists such as Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Lucian Freud, and Laurence Olivier.