Pamela Hanson never set out to create a book of her photography from the Nineties—it just unfolded that way. Like many of us, she was drawn to a decade that still feels present today. “What is it about the Nineties that makes us so nostalgic?” Hanson mused during our conversation. “I was going through my archives with the idea of making a book, and the images I loved most happened to be from that era. It was a time in photography just before everything went digital—but also a moment of freedom and innocence.”

She might have added that it was incredibly fun, too. The pages of Pamela Hanson The 90s (Rizzoli) are filled with stunning photos of equally stunning women—Christy Turlington, Veronica Webb, Yasmeen Ghauri, Naomi Campbell, Cordula Reyes, Nikki Taylor, Nadja Auermann, Claudia Schiffer, Chandra North, Kirsty Hume, Trish Goff, Kristen McMenamy, and Milla Jovovich, who appears on the cover—all captured living joyfully and unselfconsciously in front of her lens.

Hanson’s images pulse with real life, like this shot of model Kristen McMenamy in Paris.

While the late British photographer Corinne Day was capturing the raw, emerging beauty of London’s overlooked youth—most famously Kate Moss—Hanson, based in Paris, had a gift for revealing sides of the women she photographed that fashion often ignored. Her work celebrates their unique personalities, not as symbols of the polished power dressing of the Eighties. Reyes emerging from water, McMenamy running down the street tossing her hat, Taylor and Hume playing pool in cocktail dresses, Auermann enjoying dim sum, and perhaps my favorite: Ghauri shielding herself with a newspaper during a Caribbean downpour. Hanson’s camera simply invites them to be themselves.

It’s the iconic Yasmeen Ghauri who lights up this image, not her cigarette.

“I just love life, and capturing it as it unfolds on the streets,” Hanson said. “I love women, I love style, and I wanted to make that tangible.” She recalled a photographer once asking a makeup artist she often worked with when Hanson would shoot another café scene. “And she told him, ‘Whenever Pamela feels like a cup of coffee,’” Hanson remembered with a laugh. There are plenty of espressos in Pamela Hanson The 90s, along with wine glasses and certainly a lot of cigarettes—I counted twenty, enough to make me feel like I’d inhaled secondhand smoke. Perhaps it was living in Paris that brought out that side of Hanson. Born in London to American parents, she spent much of her life traveling around Europe before settling in Paris to work.

Her early years in the city, before she married and moved to New York, are fondly and humorously recalled in the book’s introduction by her childhood friend Lisa Love, a former model and now an LA icon. “Pamela was my wing person—we got each other through the photos, the stories, and so many close calls,” Love writes. “I had a questionable Polaroid collection, and when my boyfriend found it, she pretended they were hers. In Paris, I watched her work harder than anyone. As I’d come home at 6 a.m., she’d often be at the table, calling photo editors. She was a pit bull, hanging on until they realized she wouldn’t give up, and then they saw how talented and passionate she was. I left Paris knowing she could make it on her own.”

High fashion meets the street: model Veronica Webb in Paris.”There were many women photographers in Paris at the time, so there was a sense of freedom,” Hanson recalled. “Of course, there were highly skilled photographers like Sarah Moon and Deborah Turbeville, but their approach felt more staged. I got into fashion because all my friends were models—I photographed them every day, getting ready or just hanging out.” That documentary style shaped her aesthetic.

Recently, she was talking with her longtime collaborator, stylist Brana Wolf, who told her, “Fashion was never your thing. Your thing was the girls—their energy and their lifestyle.”

Hanson’s ability to capture that spirit so naturally and intimately came from genuine friendship. “I never had a specific type of person I wanted to photograph,” she said. “It always depended on their personality. I needed to connect with them to tell their story. I spent a lot of time just being with them, asking questions like, ‘What are you doing? Where are you going? Who are you seeing?’ People were more open back then.”

She describes it as a time when she might be at Davé—a legendary Paris spot favored by Helmut Newton—with models like Love, or designers like Helmut Lang or John Galliano. It was a small, close-knit world where work and life blended together. In that era, you’d be sent off with a stylist, a model, and a suitcase of clothes, and expected to return with great images. And this wonderful book is full of them—another chance to appreciate a decade that’s passed but is far from forgotten.

One standout is Claudia Schiffer, perfectly embodying the ’90s Riot Girl spirit—elevated with a punkish mohair look and plenty of attitude.

Photo: Courtesy of Pamela Hanson
Book cover: Courtesy of Rizzoli

Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Pamela Hansons book designed to sound natural and provide clear direct answers

General Beginner Questions

Q What is this book exactly
A Its a photography book by renowned fashion and portrait photographer Pamela Hanson featuring a curated collection of her work from the 1990s

Q I loved the 90s Will this book bring back that feeling
A Absolutely The book is celebrated for its authentic and intimate snapshots of the eras fashion celebrities and culture which many find powerfully nostalgic

Q Is it just a picture book or does it have text too
A While the focus is on the photography it also includes commentary and behindthescenes stories from Pamela Hanson herself giving context to the images

Q Who are some of the famous people featured in the book
A Youll find iconic 90s models like Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell as well as celebrities such as Liv Tyler Chlo Sevigny and Johnny Depp

Q Would this make a good gift for a friend who loves photography or the 90s
A Yes its a perfect gift for anyone with an interest in fashion photography pop culture history or a strong sense of nostalgia for that decade

For Photography Enthusiasts Advanced Questions

Q What makes Pamela Hansons photographic style from the 90s so distinctive
A Her style is known for its natural effortless and livedin quality She often used natural light and captured her subjects in candid intimate moments moving away from the overly polished studio looks of the 80s

Q As a photographer what can I learn from this book
A You can study her masterful use of available light her composition that feels both spontaneous and deliberate and her ability to create a strong sense of mood and narrative in a single frame

Q Does the book discuss the technical aspects of her photography like what camera or film she used
A While its not a technical manual the accompanying text often provides insights into her process including the spontaneous and collaborative environment she created on set which was key to her results

Q How does this book document the shift in fashion photography during the 90s
A It perfectly captures the