01 / Career record
Early life
Mario Sorrenti was born on 24 October 1971 in Naples, Italy, and moved to New York at ten. His mother, Francesca Sorrenti, is a New York–based fashion photographer and creative director who shaped his path into the field; his younger brother, Davide Sorrenti, was also a fashion photographer before his death from a kidney ailment in February 1997.
02 / Career record
Breakthrough with Calvin Klein
Sorrenti’s early commissions included photography for Del Amitri’s 1995 album Twisted, but his defining early work came through a "Levi’s for Girls" campaign, where he first met the model Kate Moss. Their subsequent collaboration on Calvin Klein’s Obsession fragrance campaigns established Sorrenti as a leading fashion photographer, work later collected in the 2018 Phaidon monograph Kate.
03 / Career record
Exhibitions and continued work
His work has been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, alongside venues in Paris and Monaco, and his commercial client list has grown to include Lancôme, Paco Rabanne and Benetton. In 2004 he directed John Mayer’s "Daughters" video and published The Machine, a photographic study of his brother Davide; in 2012 he shot the Pirelli Calendar. He is represented by Art Partner and remains a regular contributor to Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
04 / At a glance
Quick facts.
- —Moved from Naples to New York at ten; his mother, Francesca Sorrenti, is also a working fashion photographer
- —Photographed Kate Moss for Calvin Klein’s Obsession campaign in the early 1990s, a defining early booking
- —Exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of Modern Art
- —Directed John Mayer’s "Daughters" music video, 2004
- —Shot the Pirelli Calendar, 2012
- —Published Kate, a Phaidon monograph of his work with Kate Moss, 2018