Inez and Vinoodh Receive CFDA’s Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award
The married photography duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin are being honored for four decades of work with the CFDA’s top photography award.
CFDA Honors Photography Duo
The celebrated photography pair Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin will receive the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming CFDA Fashion Awards ceremony. The award, traditionally given to designers, is being presented to photographers for the first time, highlighting the role of photography in translating a designer’s vision into images and film.
Artists’ Reaction
Matadin told ELLE that they “didn’t know it was possible for [the Geoffrey Beene award to be given for] photography because it was always designers until now.” He added that the CFDA’s recognition affirms photography as “an integral part of the industry we all work in.”
Retrospective Exhibition
Earlier this year the duo’s work was featured in the museum retrospective “Can Love Be a Photograph?” at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag in the Netherlands. The show, accompanied by a book of the same title, presents 200 selected works that span their 40‑year collaboration.
Van Lamsweerde described the process of choosing the works as “unbelievable,” noting that the exhibition creates a new baseline from which they will continue to grow. Matadin called the show “a futurespective,” emphasizing that many pieces still contain ideas that can be further explored.
Creative Philosophy
In the exhibition, the pair highlighted a series called “Thank You Thighmaster,” which features large‑scale nude studio photographs combined with faces of mannequin dolls from the ’70s. Van Lamsweerde explained that the images portray a “hermetically closed person” whose feelings are trapped, reflecting on how digital communication can diminish physical expression.
Both artists stressed that their work revolves around a “triangle of relationships” among the subject, the photographer, and the viewer. They said the exchange of emotion and trust is the driving force behind their images, and that “the bottom line of that is we love people.”
Views on Digitalization
Matadin expressed concern that digital tools, originally meant to connect people, have instead left many feeling “disconnected while we’re all connected.” He warned that the line between real and unreal is blurring, leaving human contact as the remaining authentic experience.
Working Together as Spouses
When asked about collaborating with a spouse, Van Lamsweerde said rigidity does not work and that they constantly give and take. She noted that they have been together longer than they have worked together, yet they “still feel like young photographers” and “still have the feeling we just started.”
Key Highlights
Award Milestone: First CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award given to photographers.
40‑Year Collaboration: Their partnership spans four decades of campaigns for brands such as Gucci, Chanel, and Saint Laurent.
Future‑Focused Exhibition: “Can Love Be a Photograph?” serves both as a look back and a springboard for new ideas.
The recognition by the CFDA and the accompanying retrospective underscore Inez and Vinoodh’s lasting influence on fashion photography and their ongoing commitment to exploring new creative frontiers.
