According to Day’s website, the photographer passed away last weekend “peacefully at home, after a long illness.”
As one of the most sought-after British fashion photographers, Day popularized the waifish look that would become so ubiquitous in fashion magazines during the ’90s. Regularly commissioned by Italian, British and Japanese Vogue, the photographer’s controversial “heroin-chic” style, especially in her work with a very young Kate Moss, drew heavy criticism.
Still, Day was acclaimed for her unrelenting pursuit of a gritty, visceral feel in her photographs. She refused to retouch her images, claiming that, as a former model herself, she hated being made “into someone I wasn’t.”
“Corinne was a photographer of huge talent and integrity,” said Alexandra Shulman, Vogue’s editor. “Her work for British Vogue was entirely original and will always be remembered. She could capture raw beauty like few others.”
More recently Day had ventured into documentary photography. The discovery of her brain tumor in 1996 after collapsing in New York prompted her to photograph her treatment and illness over the next decade, a project that allowed her to further pursue the idea of visual integrity.
“Photography is getting as close as you can to real life,” she said, “showing us things we don’t normally see. These are people’s most intimate moments, and sometimes intimacy is sad.”