Legendary 70s and 80s fashion photographer Willie Christie has been announced as the Executive Director of Britain's first reality show for style photography. Christie's portfolio includes award winning advertising campaigns, fashion and portrait work for international icons, notably Cary Grant, Grace Jones, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, Sir John Mills and Catherine Deneuve; and Rock 'n' Roll album covers and portraits for Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry and Lou Reed. The 9-episode series developed by Christie and Back to Front TV is a first for Britain and will celebrate the essential relationship between style and photography. Casting for the series will be conducted through a call for contestants later this month when Back to Front TV will invite anyone with a keen interest in photography to submit their best images and describe their motivation for participating in this exclusive series.

Back to Front TV Press Release

Legend Willie Christie to Direct New Reality Show for Style Photography

LONDON, United Kingdom, October 10 -- Legendary 70s and 80s fashion photographer Willie Christie has today been announced as the Executive Director of Britain's first reality show for style photography.

With a career spanning four decades, Christie was given his first break in photography by David Anthony and went on to work as an assistant to the great Clive Arrowsmith. He worked extensively as a photographer with British Vogue, working closely with both Grace Coddington and Liz Tilberis. He shot 10 Vogue covers and many inside spreads with them. Christie's portfolio includes award winning advertising campaigns, fashion and portrait work for international icons, notably Cary Grant, Grace Jones, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, Sir John Mills and Catherine Deneuve; and Rock 'n' Roll album covers and portraits for Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry and Lou Reed, among others.

"Photography is now ubiquitous but more doesn’t necessarily mean better by flicking a switch to get a cool effect," explained Willie Christie. "It will be fun to stop the clock, strip away the layers and rediscover timeless images that have ‘a point of view'."

Christie has been showcased in Vision Gallery (Arizona), the Little Black Gallery, The Ivy Club, the RA's Summer Exhibition 2011 and his Mick Jagger portrait of 1969 was selected for the international tour of Les Recontres D'Arles 2010 exhibition. His work is featured in a wide selection of books including: People in Vogue by Robin Derrick & Robin Muir, Wonderful Today by Pattie Boyd, Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason and more recently, Grace, a Memoir by Grace Coddington.

The 9-episode series developed by Christie and Back to Front TV is a first for Britain and will celebrate the essential relationship between style and photography. Back to Front TV counts the Royal Photographic Society as a headline supporter. Casting for the series will be conducted through a call for contestants in late October 2013, when Back to Front TV will invite anyone with a keen interest in photography to submit their best images and describe their motivation for participating in this exclusive series.

"When I first met Willie Christie, I knew then there was something special about him," explained Haider Mannan, creator of the concept and principal of Back to Front TV. "We quite possibly have one of the only remaining true greats of old-school photography. Willie will win the hearts of our viewing audience, he has a delightfully warm personality and is a master of the craft and the art of style photography"

The show will be executive produced by Back to Front TV, a firm that develops content among other production related activities; and is advised by Mannan Capital Partners.

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