Rafael Pavarotti, Photographer: the fashion photography exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs — our photos

Flash on, a head-on gaze, saturated colors … Rafael Pavarotti steps into the frame of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs! From October 2, 2026 to May 2, 2027, the Paris institution is hosting for the first time in France an exhibition devoted to the Brazilian photographer, gathering more than 200 prints juxtaposed with the museum’s photographic collections.

The exhibition traces a panorama of his career: major fashion magazine covers, portraits of pop-culture icons such as Rihanna, Harry Styles and Beyoncé, and campaigns for iconic houses like Dior, Balmain, Margiela, Ferragamo, and L’Oréal. From image to image, a distinct signature emerges: dense color, assertive composition, a visual power that never aims to go unnoticed.

[midroll]

Born in 1993 in Pará State, at the heart of the Amazon rainforest, Rafael Pavarottidiscoveres photography at age 12 by borrowing his father’s camera. Autofocus engaged, he leaves Brazil for Rio and then São Paulo, before continuing his journey to London and settling in Paris. His gaze is shaped by intimate references: the strong women in his family, the vividly colored crockery of his grandmother, and the natural surroundings of his childhood.

In February 2022, he shot the cover of British Vogue, "As the world turns," featuring seven Black models. Afro-indigenous, he asserts an engaged photography, attentive to underrepresented bodies and to the social and political stakes of fashion. His images, sometimes pop, sometimes tinged with surrealism, tell stories built with the models themselves, nourished by their memories and ideas.

An exhibition "fashion" that captures the scale and uniqueness of a perspective that has become essential in contemporary fashion photography.