Ethan James Green

Green grew up in Caledonia, Michigan, where, at the age of 14, he began photographing his friends. In 2007, at age 17, he signed with Ford Models,[2] and he moved to New York City the following year.[3]

As a model, he appeared in a prominent campaign for Calvin Klein,[4] and was photographed by David Armstrong, appearing in Armstrong's 2011 book 615 Jefferson Ave.[5] He began working at Armstrong's assistant,[6] and Armstrong became his mentor.[1][7]

In New York, Green continued his earlier practice of photographing his friends. He met potential subjects at clubs[8] and on Instagram,[2] including actress and model Hari Nef.[7]

In 2014,[9] Green began taking portraits of his queer, transgender, and nonbinary friends, usually in the Lower East Side's Corlears Hook Park. The portraits, some of which appeared on Tumblr, garnered attention, and drew comparisons to Diane Arbus.[1][2] In 2019, Aperture Foundation published the portraits as the monograph Young New York.

As a commercial photographer, Green has shot covers and editorials for Arena Homme +, Dazed, i-D, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris, and W; campaigns for Alexander McQueen, Fendi, Helmut Lang, Miu Miu, Prada, and Versace; and has photographed fashion, pop culture, and queer celebrities such as Naomi Campbell, Bella Hadid, Kate Moss, Rihanna, RuPaul, and John Waters.[10]

Green is openly gay.[11]

• Maheshwar. New York, NY: Dashwood Books. 2019. (zine)
• Young New York. New York, NY: Aperture. 2019. ISBN 9781597114547.
• Bombshell. New York, NY: Dashwood Books. 2021. (zine)

• Ethan James Green on Models.com