| Bob Carlos Clarke | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Robert Carlos Clarke |
| Born | 24 June 1950 County Cork, Ireland |
| Died | 25 March 2006 (aged 55) London, England |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Field | Photography |
Robert Carlos Clarke (24 June 1950, County Cork – 25 March 2006, Barnes, London) was an Irish photographer, known for his highly stylised erotic imagery.
In 1970, Clarke studied graphics at the West Sussex College of Art. Later, he received an MA from the Royal College of Art. Carlos Clarke photographed celebrities such as Keith Richards, Dita Von Teese, Caprice, Jessica-Jane Clement, Marco Pierre White and Rachel Weisz; many of these were his friends and acquaintances, some of them through his agent Ghislain Pascal, who represented some of his clients.[1] He was also, for many years, very good friends with the late Lord Patrick Lichfield. During an interview with those who knew him, including his second wife Lindsay and agent for the August 2008 issue of Professional Photographer, it was said that Lichfield's death affected Clarke badly.[1]
After many years of suffering from severe clinical depression, Carlos Clarke committed suicide in London: he left the Priory clinic where he had been receiving treatment and walked to a railway line in Barnes, where he stepped in front of a passenger train travelling from Windsor to Waterloo. He was subsequently given a humanist funeral service prior to burial at Brompton Cemetery.[2][3]
Clarke was married twice and had one daughter, Scarlett Carlos Clarke, with his second wife Lindsey, an ex-model whom he met at a photoshoot.[1] Just prior to his death, Carlos Clarke was working on a permanent exhibition titled Dark Genius for White's London restaurant named Luciano. Following his suicide, it was left to his wife and agent Pascal to complete the work.[1]
He produced five books during his career: The Illustrated Delta of Venus (1979), Obsession (1981), The Dark Summer (1985), White Heat (with Marco Pierre White, 1990), and Shooting Sex (2003).