Priscilla Rattazzi is an Italian-born photographer based in New York City who has worked primarily as a magazine photographer and has authored several photography books.
Life and career
Priscilla Rattazzi was born in Rome in 1956, the youngest child of Susanna Agnelli and Urbano dei conti Rattazzi. She is the niece of Gianni Agnelli, who was chairman of Fiat. At the age of 16, she went to Wales as a student at Atlantic College, and subsequently went to the United States, where she studied photography at Sarah Lawrence College, graduating in 1977. She has remained in New York City since her student days. As a model she was featured in Richard Avedon's "Avedon: Photographs 1947-1977" along with models Dovima, Dorian Leigh, and Suzy Parker. She was an apprentice to Japanese fashion photographerHiro. Her work has been featured in magazines including Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Seventeen, New York Magazine, Self, and Italian Vogue. Rattazzi has been married three times, first to Alex Ponti, later to German investment banker Claus Moehlmann, and currently to Chris Whittle, an entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Edison Schools. She is the mother of three children. She is the president of the US Foundation for Atlantic College.
Books
Priscilla's first book was printed privately in 1982. Entitled Una Famiglia, it consists of old family portraits and pictures of various relatives.
Best Friends was Priscilla's second book. It featured an introduction by Gianni Agnelli. The book is composed of portraits of dogs and their owners including Glenn Close, Mary Wells, and Diane Von Furstenberg. As a result of the book's success Priscilla was featured in Time's People section.
Children features over 100 photographs of childhood and was published by Rizzoli in 1992. Many of the photographs include images of her eldest son, Maxi. The text was written by her sister, who is a child therapist.
Georgica Pond was published by Callaway Editions in September 2000. It focused on the area in East Hampton, New York, where she and her husband Chris Whittle own an estate called Briar Patch. A portion of the proceeds from sales of Georgica Pond were donated to the South Fork-Shelter Island chapter of the Nature Conservancy.
