Photography as an art form is integral to the way President’s sees the world: decisive moments make history and perspective is everything. Each season President’s selects one artist whose work embodies our values of independence, irreverence, and classic style. Together, we select one iconic image from their archives to represent the collection in our print campaign.

In addition to this digital space, the collection exists as a physical permanent collection at President’s headquarters in Florence.

Autumn Winter 2018 – Stephen Shames

Stephen Shames is an American photojournalist using his photography to raise awareness of social issues. Working to promote social change, he has created award winning photo essays for advocacy orgnisations, foundations, media, magazines and museums, often focusing on child poverty and race. The photo entering President’s private collection for Autumn Winter 2018 was shot 1980 in New York, featuring a teenage hustler drinking his soda in the 8th Avenue subway station entrance in Times Square.

Spring Summer 2018 – Nacio Jan Brown

Nacio Jan Brown is an American photographer known for his photographs from all the major anti-war and social protest movement activities in the San Francisco Bay Area. At the time, they were published by the underground press. Today, his work is widely recognised through the publication of his photos in books, magazines and international newspapers as well as part of several exhibitions. The photo for the President’s Spring Summer 2018 campaign was shot in Berkeley (CA) in 1978 during a four-years-on-one-block street photography project which later resulted in the publication of the book, Rag Theater.

Autumn Winter 2017-18 – Cheryl Dunn

Cheryl Dunn is an American photographer and filmmaker based in New York City where a large part of her career has been spent documenting alternative urban and youth culture, capturing artists, boxers, skaters, bikers, protesters and graffiti writers. Her work, has been exhibited in galleries and museums such as the The Tate Modern, Deitch Projects, Geffen Contemporary MOCA and her films has played at several international film festivals including Tribeca Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival and Hot Docs International Documentary Festival in Toronto. The photo chosen for the President’s Autumn Winter 2017-18 campaign was shot in 1997 in New Jersey, in the locker room of Shannon Briggs.

Read the interview with Cheryl Dunn.

Spring Summer 2017 – Aaron Stern

Aaron Stern is an American artist and author who lives and works in New York City. His photographs, poetry, books and curatorial projects have appeared in The Paris Review, the New York Times, Vogue Italia, Interview and many others. Aaron’s image chosen to represent President’s SS17 collection was taken from his most recent monograph, Horizon Avenue, and is a moment of unexpected beauty nearby busy Newark Liberty Airport.

Read the interview with Aaron Stern.

Autumn-Winter 2016-17 – Sebastiano Tomada Piccolomini

Sebastiano Tomada Piccolomini is a young Italian-American photojournalist whose work in conflict zones has garnered international esteem. He has worked in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East, and is a graduate of Parsons in New York City. His campaign image, Malecon at Dawn, was shot in Havana.

Read the interview with Sebastiano Tomada Piccolomini.

Spring Summer 2016 – Alessandro Simonetti

Alessandro Simonetti is an Italian multimedia artist whose work walks the line between fine art and photojournalism, and he is especially well-regarded for his documentation of subcultures around the world. His campaign image, Kid playing handball, L.A. 2006, is an iconic black and white photograph of a boy playing handball in Venice Beach, California, shot almost exactly one decade ago.

Read the interview with Alessandro Simonetti.

Autumn Winter 2015-16 – Tag Christof

Tag Christof is an American artist whose documentary photography focuses on economic and cultural change in the United States. His campaign image, New Mexico, 2015, is a shot of his old Pontiac being fueled up at a roadside station just off Route 66.

Read the interview with Tag Christof 

Spring Summer 2015 – Ari Marcopoulos

Ari Marcopoulos is a well-known Dutch photographer whose work depicts American youth culture and the everyday lives of skateboarders, snowboarders, musicians, and artists. He has been based in New York City since his early twenties and began his career as Andy Warhol’s printer. His campaign photo, Montauk, 2011, was shot at the renowned Long Island surf hotspot, Ditch Plains Beach, and was originally part of his Dark Sun exhibition.

Autumn Winter 2014-15 – Joseph Szabo

Joseph Szabo is a renowned American photographer who is most well-known for his captivating images of teenage life. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, the Venice Biennale, the Brooklyn Museum and many others, and he teaches at the International Center for Photography. His campaign image, Lynbrook, NY, 1977, is a cinematic black and white shot from a bygone era of American suburbia.