LOS ANGELES, CA.- Fahey/Klein Gallery is presenting Bruce Weber: Try a Little Tenderness, a long-awaited exhibition that offers an expansive reflection on how an artist is formed—not by formal instruction alone, but by family, friendship, mentorship, love, collaboration, and lived experience. Drawing on decades of photographic work from across Weber’s career, the exhibition unfolds as a visual memoir, tracing the emotional and creative education that shaped Weber’s distinctive vision.
Born and raised in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Weber’s earliest encounters with art took place at home, where he made drawings and 8mm films with his father and sister. At twelve, he received an Argus C3 35mm camera, an event that crystallized his desire to share the intimate world he was photographing beyond the backyard. Weber initially studied theater at Denison University before turning toward filmmaking at New York University. A chance introduction by Diane Arbus led him to Lisette Model’s influential photography classes, where he refined a humanistic approach grounded in emotional presence, an ethos that informs even his most stylized imagery to this day.
By the late 1970s, Weber emerged as a defining voice in fashion photography. His sun-drenched, nostalgic images—often set on beaches or in small towns imbued with old Hollywood allure—conveyed an ease, sensuality, and sense of freedom that stood apart from prevailing conventions. He went on to collaborate with Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld, Gianni Versace, Abercrombie & Fitch and Louis Vuitton, while his editorial work appeared in Vogue (American, Italian, and French), Vanity Fair, Interview, and GQ. Characterized by cinematic staging, natural light, and an enduring affinity for youth culture and everyday characters, Weber’s photographs feel at once timeless and immediate.
Weber’s artistic practice extends seamlessly into film. His documentary Let’s Get Lost (1989), an intimate portrait of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, earned an Academy Award nomination. He has since directed numerous films, commercials, and music videos, and in 1998 the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (LACMA) mounted a retrospective of his film work. His anti-war documentary A Letter to True premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and screened internationally, including at Tribeca, Toronto, and Edinburgh. This latest feature, The Treasure of His Youth: The Photographs of Paolo di Paolo, premiered at the Rome Film Festival in 2021.
With more than fifteen monographs published and works held in major institutional collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Musée de la Photographie, Paris, Weber has exhibited widely at venues such as the Whitney Biennial, Museo de l’Élysée, Palazzo Fortuny, the Florence Biennale, the National Portrait Gallery, London, and most recently The Stone Bell House/Prague City Gallery in the Czech Republic. Across fashion, portraiture, and film, his work has introduced an unprecedented narrative and emotional depth to commercial photography, influencing generations of artists.
The exhibition coincides with the publication of Bruce Weber: My Education, a 565-page hardcover monograph published by TASCHEN, available for purchase at the gallery while supplies last.
