Paul Westlake

Paul Westlake is a New York–based photographer known for his atmospheric use of light and emotionally resonant imagery. Born in England and raised in Australia, he began his career in Sydney in 1985, working with leading titles including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, Marie Claire, and GQ.

In 1996, Westlake relocated to New York, where he established an international practice, contributing to leading glossy magazines worldwide alongside portrait commissions and advertising campaigns. His photographs are defined by a cinematic restraint and a dreamlike sensibility, grounded in a precise command of light and composition.

In 2025, Westlake was commissioned by the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, to photograph the publications accompanying the exhibition Costume Art (opening May 2026), including the illustrated catalogue by Andrew Bolton (Yale University Press) and a limited-edition deluxe publication.

He is also a founding collaborator and co-producer of Pan & The Dream, the collectible art and style publication created with Nathalie Agussol. His work continues to explore portraiture as a space between presence and imagination, where images unfold with quiet intensity and a sense of timelessness. His monograph Postcards from a Dream gathers images drawn from more than three decades of his archive.