From London, to Paris, to his current home in Brooklyn, New York, the multitalented Mark Borthwick has made a successful career out of his free and adventurous spirit. Water, kids, animals, the colours pink and purple and the unmistakable red of the sun are often the main elements of his photographs and create the signature of a unique, yet often copied style that has had him working with brands like Yohji Yamamoto, Hussein Chalayan, Missoni, Maison Martin Margiela and MYKITA.

Mark Borthwick

Borthwick was born in London and spent a substantial amount of time during his teenage years as a New Romantic on make-up sessions with his friends. This served as an empirical education and fine-tuned the skills he later needed to start a creative career in the fashion industry. Living in Paris in the mid-1980s, Borthwick’s work started to gain widespread recognition through iconic magazines like i-D and The Face championing his fresh aesthetic.

"His home in Brooklyn, which seconds as a studio for many of his commercial assignments, embodies the spirit of his work. It looks like a three-dimensional version of one of his sun-drenched photographs"

Shortly after his first child was born Borthwick and his wife, fashion designer Maria Cornejo, relocated their young family to New York City, where most of his creative career has taken place. As a family man he started a series of multidisciplinary collaborations in different creative fields, while his photographic work continued to be published extensively in the most forward-thinking publications of the fashion industry, such as i-D, Vogue Italia and Purple Fashion Magazine. His collaborations include works with artists like Mike Mills, Aaron Rose, Cat Power and Sonic Youth.

His home in Brooklyn, which seconds as a studio for many of his commercial assignments, embodies the spirit of his work. It looks like a three-dimensional version of one of his sun-drenched photographs. Although many of his commissions take him away from home for prolonged periods of time, he shoots around 90 per cent of his work at his house. There, he only uses his trusted analogue Leica that his wife bought him about 25 years ago. He likes to work in a very intimate and simple way – no hair, no make-up, no stylist.

"Sometimes his modus operandi goes to the extent of not even looking directly at things while photographing them. He’s not a fan of artificial light, so the back wall of the house was replaced with huge windows that flood the spaces with sunlight"

This gives him the freedom of letting things just be, without anyone trying to direct or control, not even he; sometimes his modus operandi goes to the extent of not even looking directly at things while photographing them. He’s not a fan of artificial light, so the back wall of the house was replaced with huge windows that flood the spaces with sunlight. This creates a perfect setting to showcase the family’s art collection, which besides their own work, includes pieces received from friends as gifts, and the occasional result of barter deals, something Borthwick particularly enjoys doing. According to Mark, there’s no difference to art, music, photography and even cooking: “It is all the same”. Food is another of his passions, and he is indeed a terrific cook. His friends are no strangers to his experimental cuisine and often stop by to jam and try his culinary creations.

"Over the years of his collaboration with MYKITA he also composed and played the soundtracks for some of the mood films he shot for the brand"

The contemporary Renaissance man added music to his repertoire in 2001. His musical work includes collaborations with experimental rock bands, resulting in serene acoustic folk songs. Over the years of his collaboration with MYKITA he also composed and played the soundtracks for some of the mood films he shot for the brand.

The special journey with multi-talented artist Mark Borthwick ‘OUT OF THIS WORLD’ is now captured in a limited, signed art edition photo book set showing the wondrous pictures of the MYKITA 2014 campaign. The Art Edition Box is available online at the MYKITA E-Shop and at all MYKITA Shops worldwide.