Michel Comte

Michel Comte (born 19 February 1954) is a Swiss artist, filmmaker, fashion and portrait photographer. His most recent art project ‘Light’, focuses on the impact of environmental decline through his large-scale installations, paintings, sculptures and multimedia artworks.

Comte started his career as an art restorer, specializing in contemporary artworks such as Andy Warhol and Yves Klein. In 1979, he was discovered by Karl Lagerfeld who gave him his first international assignment for Chloé and later Chanel. He became well-known for his work with Vogue Italia, l'Uomo Vogue, Vanity Fair and Interview over the years and has worked with brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Gianfranco Ferre, BMW and Ferrari amongst others. He directed and produced his first feature film in 3D, The Girl from Nagasaki - a retelling of the classic opera Madame Butterfly, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014.

Away from the high-gloss magazines and his campaigns for luxury brands, Comte kept himself grounded by taking on photo assignments for the International Red Cross (ICRC) in war-ravaged regions like Bosnia, Angola, Rwanda and Somalia. His work with the ICRC contributed to fundraising efforts to build an orthopaedic hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan and helped raise awareness and money for victims of conflict.

A passionate mountain climber and aviator, Comte began investigating climate change as a student and has had the unprecedented opportunity to observe and portray glacial landscapes all over the world. Two decades ago, Comte decided to wind down most of his activities as a commercial photographer to focus on 'Light', his most recent art project. 'Light' is the study of natural landscapes and explores the impact of environmental changes via sculpture, paintings, installations and photography.

‘Light’ has been exhibited at the La Triennale di Milano (2017), MAXXI in Rome (2017), Urs Meile Galleries (Beijing 2018 and Lucerne 2020) and Dirimart (Turkey) (2019).