Celebrity photographer Terry Richardson has been under accusation of numerous sexual assaults on his models for the past recent months. The accomplished photographer is reported to using his power and prominence in abusing young women looking to make it as celebrities.
Richardson, 48, has denied all of the allegations of inappropriate conduct with the models. He also made comments on the claims from numerous sources that started 4 years ago and have intensified in recent months.
In a Huffington Post report, the photographer declared that he portrayed his conduct at photoshoots as consensual, but did comment if any sexual activity had actually taken place.
"I give everyone that I work with enough respect to view them as having ownership of their free will and making their decisions accordingly, and as such, it has been difficult to see myself as a target of revisionist history," Richardson said.
The report came out days after Vocativ published a model's accusation against the photographer of sexual advances to her in a booking from 5 years ago.
"He takes girls who are young, manipulates them to take their clothes off and takes pictures of them they will be ashamed of. They are too afraid to say no because their agency booked them on the job and are too young to stand up for themselves,"
Richardson in his letter explained why he has not responded since they first started years ago: At that time, I felt that to dignify them with a response was a betrayal of my work and my character. When these allegations resurfaced over the past few months, they seemed especially vicious and distorted, moving outside the realm of critical dialogue and becoming nothing more than an emotionally charged witch-hunt. Enabled and protected by the freewheeling and often times anonymous nature of the Internet, people have become comfortable concocting hate-filled and libelous tales about my professional and personal lives."
He also added:
"Over the course of my career, I have come to accept that some of my more provocative work courts controversy, and as an artist, I value the discourse that arises from this," Richardson said. "I can only hope for this discourse to be informed by fact, so that whether you love my work or hate it, you give it, and me, the benefit of the truth."
Richardson is known for sexualizing his subjects, comparing himself to photographers Helmut Newton and Robert Mapplethorphe, "sexual imagery has always been a part of my photography."
