Peter Lindbergh (74)

GERMAN fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh, credited with inventing the concept of the supermodel in the 1980s, has died aged 74, a message on his Instagram account said yesterday.

Born in 1944 in Germanoccupied Poland, he is seen as the creator of a style of naturalistic fashion photography that showed women without heavy makeup and is known for famous images of Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington.

German daily Bild quoted him as having told the newspaper in May: ‘‘Nothing is more beautiful than photographing the women you love. I was really in love with each of my supermodels.’’

Oscarwinning actor Charlize Theron described him as a genius and a master of his craft.

‘‘Beyond that, what made him truly one of a kind was his consistent kindness, warmth, and incredible sense of humour,’’ she tweeted.

Lindbergh recently shot pictures of women for the ‘‘Forces for Change’’ issue of British Vogue magazine guestedited by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

He also shot three editions of the Pirelli calendar.

The Instagram message said he had died on September 3. It gave no further details, saying only he was survived by his wife, Petra, his first wife, Astrid, four sons and seven grandchildren.

Lindbergh grew up in western Germany before studying at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts in the 1960s.

On his website he said he was inspired by Vincent van Gogh and, like him, lived in Arles, France, as a young man before travelling through Spain and northern Africa. In the 1970s he turned to photography and pioneered a new realism that rejected retouching.

‘‘This should be the responsibility of photographers today, to free women, and finally everyone, from the terror of youth and perfection,’’ he is quoted as saying on his website.