The photographer flips the script in her new book chronicling a decade behind the lens
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
“Not too serious, a bit off, a bit strange,” is how photographer Brianna Capozzi describes David Lynch movies — and, in the same breath, herself. Capozzi credits her playful New Jersey upbringing for the cheeky and “very pop” work (think Chloë Sevigny wearing a lobster) she has compiled in a new volume, Womanizer (Rizzoli, $65). Capozzi combed through images she shot over the past decade for British Vogue, American Vogue, Vogue Italia, Interview, W, AnOther, Dazed, The Face, and Pop, many on location in California, for the volume she calls a “complete pendulum swing in a different direction” from her last work, Sisters, a very intimate look at subjects she cast.
“We can be as erotic or playful as we want. It’s a celebration of women.”
The new book, Capozzi’s third, combines surrealistic images — Miley Cyrus with magnified cleavage, Gwyneth Paltrow wielding a wrench, Selena Gomez wearing giant pink Mickey Mouse gloves, Sevigny aiming a banana gun — with erotic sleaze and her sense of humor. She says, “I wanted to portray this side of my work in a solid, clear way that’s celebratory, fun, light, bright, and humorous.”
“My dad is a toy designer, he made stuffed animals and porcelain dolls, so I’ve always been drawn to play and cartoons,” says Capozzi, who studied at Parsons School of Design, initially making clothes and photographing the garments on her family and friends. For the new volume, she selected conceptual images from magazine shoots with celebrities along with book-specific photos inspired by off-the-cuff ideas. “I’m driving women around in my car. We’re with Hanne Gaby [Odiele] in her basement, we’re figuring it out on the day, experimenting,” she says. “I do that with my friends, but it was fun to do with models.”
It’s how she first connected with Sevigny — a muse she met through stylist and editor Haley Wollens — who has become a frequent subject over the past decade and who penned the book’s foreword. “We took Chloë to my house. My mom was making us lunch,” Capozzi says. “We came up with characters we wanted her to be. It’s still like that; she’s extremely open and willing to experiment.” Sevigny writes that Capozzi isn’t afraid of what can be termed bad taste. “In fact,” she notes, “she celebrates it, transforming it into something sublime and uncanny.”
Not surprisingly, Capozzi loves the nuances and stereotypes and clichés of Los Angeles. She shot Cyrus at Farralone House in Chatsworth, once owned by Frank Sinatra, who rented the guesthouse to Marilyn Monroe. “In this business, you’re always immersed in Hollywood,” says Capozzi, who found herself starstruck by the pool where Monroe swam. She has also embraced shooting along the Walk of Fame and at Chateau Marmont. “It’s fun for me to play into all of that,” she says. “It feels like a set, a playground.”
A rooftop session with Gomez brought out the city’s vast and sprawling dimensions. “Shooting above the city is very relevant for her. We were in our privacy, but we still have the atmosphere and energy of L.A.,” Capozzi says. She likes to shoot subjects in their home city. “It’s more relaxed. There’s always someone showing up to set to support them — boyfriends, family members, grandmas. It feels more intimate and homey.”
As for the book title, Capozzi enjoys the wordplay. “It’s taking back this word womanizer. I think I clearly love shooting powerful women and having these exchanges with them, and we’re doing exactly what we want to do without anyone’s opinions,” she says. Power and play between the photographer and subject can coexist. “I like shooting women and making them look sexy and in charge of their bodies,” she says. “We can be as erotic or playful as we want. It’s a celebration of women, and I felt it was a fitting title.” rizzoli.com.
This story originally appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of C Magazine.
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