Pierre et Gilles are Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard. French artistic and romantic partners. They produce highly stylized photographs, building their own sets and costumes as well as retouching the photographs. Their work often features images from popular culture, gay culture including porn (especially James Bidgood), and religion.
Pierre Commoy, the photographer, was born in 1949 in La Roche-sur-Yon. Gilles Blanchard, the painter, was born in 1953 in Le Havre. After art studies, they moved to Paris in 1973 where they met in 1976, and began to work together.
People photographed by Pierre et Gilles include: musicians Lio, Khaled, Étienne Daho, Marie France, Mikado, Marc Almond, Marilyn Manson, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Erasure, Deee-Lite, The Creatures, Nina Hagen and CocoRosie (the cover of their 2007 album The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn); model Naomi Campbell, actress Catherine Deneuve, actor Layke Anderson and designer Jean-Paul Gaultier.
They directed Marc Almond's 1990 music video for the song "A Lover Spurned".
