The Lives of Others: Sublime Interiors of Extraordinary People

Since the 1980s, Simon Watson has been one of the most prolific chroniclers of extraordinary interiors and portraits, gracing the pages of W magazine, Vanity Fair, Travel & Leisure, AD, and T Magazine. From hard-edged modernity and historical exoticism to pure classicism, the photographer has documented rooms of note in cities, atop mountains, and by the sea.

Complementing his masterful images, Watson gives an intimate account of the interactions he experienced with each of his subjects, as well as a brief description and history of the location. On this journey with the photographer, you will experience: Julian Schnabel’s cavernous New York City studio; the Duchess of Alba’s Palacio Liria in Madrid, filled with sixteenth- and seventeenth-century masterpieces; interior designer Roberto Peregali’s splendid riad in Tangier; the magnificent and vast Castello Gardena in the Italian Alps owned by the Franchetti clan; Guinness heir Garech Le Brun’s County Wicklow (Ireland) hillside retreat; the Renaissance Palazzo Massimo alle Collone in Rome, designed by Baldassarre Peruzzi in the fifteenth century; shoe designer Christian Louboutin’s Paris fanciful apartment; and many other splendid places around the world.