Douglas Kirkland was born in Toronto Canada. He joined Look Magazine in his early twenties, then Life Magazine during the golden age of 60’s/70’s photojournalism. Through the years, Douglas Kirkland has worked on the sets of over one hundred motion pictures; Among, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, “2001 A Space Odyssey”, “Titanic”, “Moulin Rouge” and “Australia” Baz Luhrmann’s epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

Douglas Kirkland’s fine arts photography has been exhibited all over the world. His exhibition of Freeze Frame is now in the permanent collection of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills. His work is also in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian, the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra Australia, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Eastman House in Rochester and the Houston Center for Photography and the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles.

He is also a sought after lecturer. In September of 2008, Vanity Fair Italy organized a retrospective of his work at the Museum of the Triennale in Milan. He is a member of the prestigious Hewlett Packard’s Photo Influencers and Canon’s Explorers of Light and as well as an associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers. Some of the awards he has received include a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the American S.O.C., Photographer of the Year from the PMA, a Lucie Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment Photography from the IPA, The Golden Eye of Russia and a Life Time Achievement Award from CAPIC in his native Toronto Canada. In October 2007, Douglas received an Honorary Master of Fine Arts Degree from Brooks Institute for his deep commitment and dedication to his profession. 

When not traveling the globe on assignment, his home and studio is in the Hollywood Hills where he lives with his wife and business partner Françoise.