​Johnny Moncada Archive

Biography

 

 

Johnny Moncada (Giovanni Luigi Moncada di Paternò, Roma, 1928-2011)

 

Born in Rome, the son of Conte Corrado Moncada dei Principi di Paternò, Sicilian aristocrat of Spanish descent and Teresa Patrizi, daughter of Marchese Giuseppe Patrizi and Francesca Lee Cooper, descendant from the Lees of Virginia.

His career began with advertising photography and takes a definite path after meeting Joan Whelan, in 1954, an American model for Hubert de Givenchy who had just arrived in Rome to show Emilio Pucci clothes. They became inseparable and were married in 1956.

The photos of Johnny Moncada, a synthesis between art and fashion capture the spirit of their time with great elegance and style. He worked with famous models of his time, Denise Sarrault from Paris, the legendary Veruschka, Barbara Bach, the wife of Ringo Star, Ali MacGraw, the actress and wife of Steve McQueen, Jean Shrimpton, and the famous Italian models such as Isa Stoppi, Mirella Petteni and Iris Bianchi.

He publishes with "Linea Italiana", "Harper's Bazaar UK", "The Tatler", "New York Times Magazine", "Constanze Mode", "Grazia", "Novità", and others. He also works the advertisement for Vespa-Piaggio and Alitalia airlines. His studio became an important center for artists such as Gastone Novelli and Cy Twombly, and designers like Valentino, Mila Schön, Pino Lancetti, Irene Galitzine, Roccobarocco, Sorelle Fontana, and many others.

He works in Paris, London and New York, and travels worldwide for Alitalia.

He closed his studio in 1970 and opened an advertising agency HG in 1973, after having worked as creative advisor for Pgbs advertising agency.

In 2006, the daughter Valentina Moncada who runs an art gallery from 1990, convinces her father to open the trunks of negatives, circa 3.000 shots of Veruschka emerged among 100,000 negatives.