EXCLUSIVE

From Britney to Beyoncé: Photos Capturing the Magical Beauty of the 2000s

Photographer Markus Klinko captured the stars that shaped 2000s popular culture. Here are some of his iconic images—that will be displayed in a series of art gallery exhibitions.

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I think what we’re seeing right now—for the first time—is people in the art gallery scene are extremely interested in the 2000s period. In fashion and music, the 2000s nostalgia is not as new.

We’ve been seeing it everywhere, and I think some of the work shown in my upcoming art gallery exhibitions in Munich, Toronto, Vienna, London and Dubai is what a lot of people remember when they were 14. Everything in fashion has a comeback. The people that really love the 2000s are generally people who were very, very young at that time. Now they’re in their 30s, and they’re very melancholic about that. Back then, I was really referencing the ‘70s, the whole disco era. So, what we’re looking at now is actually a 2000s vision of the ‘70s. It was a more innocent era. It was the time before social media, and I think that people enjoy going back to a simpler time when you were not judged constantly by your Instagram profile.

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Beyoncé in Times Square, all of that. She was about to launch her solo career, and my task was to really envision who Beyoncé was about to become, and to anticipate the image that wasn’t really her quite yet.

For me, it all started with shooting David Bowie for the cover of his album Heathen 20 years ago, in 2001. Bowie is not only one of the most photogenic and incredible artists ever, but he was so direct and personable in the way he collaborates with other artists and the people that contribute to his projects. He is someone who picks up the phone and calls and gets very involved on a personal level.

I’m celebrating the 20th anniversary of this collaboration this fall with the series of these global exhibitions, as well as the release of Markus Klinko -21, a limited-edition art/luxury object that contains 21 works, one for each year since 2000 all the way to 2021. It’s also a display box and will allow collectors to showcase whichever image from the collection that they choose.

These works are what I call pop-culture milestones; some of these images are engraved in people’s minds.

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