CNN debunks myth of Kate Moss party photo

Everything you thought you knew about Kate Moss’ infamous ‘party era’ photo is wrong. The image of the supermodel in a fur coat, cigarette in hand, sitting on a fire escape staircase, has been used for years to cement her wild-child reputation. But the photographer behind it says the story is not what it seems.

What really happened that night in 2007

Greg Brennan was assigned to photograph Moss’s 33rd birthday party at The Dorchester in London. When word spread that the model was still miles away at the Donmar Warehouse theater, he rushed over. The entrance was mobbed by photographers and onlookers.

Then his flash unit batteries nearly died. Returning to his car, Brennan remembered the theater had a back fire escape — the same exit he had used in the late 1990s to capture Nicole Kidman. He checked it on a whim.

“She was just sitting there on the stairs, smoking,” Brennan said. “I walked past the door, took one look and knew I had a few seconds, if that, to act.”

He poked his camera through the ajar door and fired off 10 images. Only afterward he realized what was happening: Moss and then-boyfriend Pete Doherty (just out of frame) had sent a decoy car to the front entrance while they slipped out the back. Brennan even helped the supermodel open the car door, hastening their escape as rival photographers approached.

The photo that became a symbol of excess

Brennan didn’t return to The Dorchester. He sent the images to his editors and went home confident he had the night’s best pictures. He did not expect to wake up to see one of them splashed across nearly every British tabloid.

The outlet printed it alongside reports of an “all-drinking, all-dancing” 24-hour party, captioning it as a “partying pause.” Other journalists on the scene linked the image to stories about Moss partying in a bathroom or having a “birthday row” with Doherty. The photo became debaucherous by association.

Brennan understands why. “Kate having a cigarette, sitting on the stairs, doesn’t really sell newspapers,” he said. But the now-53-year-old photographer insists the picture is among the most misunderstood of his near-four-decade career.

“I read all sorts of nonsense,” he said. “I read that she tripped on her dress, that she fell down the stairs, that it was 4 a.m. — none of that was accurate. None.” He believes Moss was completely sober when the shot was taken.

The media narrative that stuck

In 2007, Moss was at the height of her powers. Reporters had named her one of the 100 most influential people. The report listed her as the world’s second highest-earning model, behind only Gisele Bündchen. But a 2005 drug scandal had cost her several high-profile contracts amid police investigations. The outlet declared her career “in ruins,” though she was never charged and was named Model of the Year the next year.

The tabloid era was notoriously toxic for female stars — both British and American, like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. Brennan notes that the media narrative around Moss was one of excess, and his image fit that story perfectly, even if it didn’t reflect reality. They say that this kind of fashion jewellery is often used to create a certain image.

Why his favorite shot isn’t the famous one

Brennan’s new book, The Big Shot, aims to set the record straight. It details the combination of seasoned experience and blind luck that led him to that back door. He includes the full sequence of images — including his personal favorite, taken fractionally later, with Moss on her feet heading to the door.

“It’s more catwalk-y,” Brennan said. He accepts that photographers don’t control which of their images capture the public imagination. “They say that every good photographer, at some point in their career, should have one image that transcends all others. And I feel I’ve achieved it with this one — but it wasn’t intentional.”

The photo — taken in 2007 of a 33-year-old Moss waiting for a ride — has become an emblem of her “party era.” But according to the man who pressed the shutter, the only thing party-like about it was the story the papers chose to tell.