Steven Lyon

Steven Lyon (born April 10, 1961 in Santa Barbara, California) has had a career as an actor, model, and photographer. He currently resides in New York and Paris.
Early Life
Lyon was born on April 10, 1961 in Santa Barbara, California. He spent his childhood in Costa Mesa, California.
Modeling
Lyon began his modeling career in the early 1980s. After having his portrait shot by Andy Warhol for Interview Magazine in 1980, Steven went on to model for numerous high end fashion labels. In 1985 he became the face of Claude Montana's and Jean Paul Gaultier's Fall/Winter campaigns. In addition, Lyon was a part of Gianni Versace's perfume campaign in 1989. Beginning in 1989 and spanning five years, Steven was featured alongside the icon Iman for the Nikos Apostolopoulos underwear campaign, shot by famous fashion photographer Victor Skrebneski. Lyon was also the face of Trussardi campaigns, which lasted for five years. In 1989 and again in 1991, Victor Skrebneski honored Lyon with the iconic nude Chicago Film Festival poster. In 1990, Lyon was shot by fashion photographer Paolo Roversi for the Cerrito campaign. Steven's modeling portfolio also includes modeling for Versace in their fashion shows and campaigns for a number of years. The Gianni Versace Couture Spring/Summer 1993 campaign featured Steven alongside Naomi Campbell. Throughout his fifteen year career, Steven was also the face for such designers as Joseph Abboud, Bally, Lancel, Oliver Stroll, Allegri, and Façonnable. He was constantly seen in the pages of L'Uomo Vogue, Vogue Hommes, Harper's Bazaar, Mondo Uomo, Esquire, and numerous GQs from around the world. He has been photographed by iconic photographers such as Paolo Roversi, Mario Testino, Francesco Scapula, Herd Ritz, Victor Skrebneski, Giovanni Gastel, Gianpaolo Barbieri, and Guy Bourdin.
Acting
In 1985, Steven starred in a play in Los Angeles, alongside Academy-award nominated Susan Terrell, in the dark comedy "Why Hannah's Skirt Won't Stay Down." Having seen his performance, Ned Tannen, the CEO of Paramount Studios at the time, offered Lyon the role in a Paramount film named Campus Man. Premiering in 1987, Campus Man featured Steven as the lead role of “Brett Wilson", an Olympic diver persuaded by "Katherine Van Buren", played by Morgan Fairchild, to pose for an all-male sports calendar . Interview magazine featured an article on Lyon subsequent to the release of the film . He was also featured as "Hunk of the Month" in Teen Beat's September 1987 issue. . Lyon went on to land the leading role of "Ike"in the 1987 comedy Valet Girls directed by Rafal Zielinski.
Steven returned to his acting career in 2013, appearing in a featured role in starring Robert De Niro and directed Luc Besson.
Photography
Lyon began photography in 1998. Shortly thereafter, he sold his house in Los Angeles and moved to Paris in 1999. He re-immersed himself back into the Paris fashion world, this time behind the camera. He draws inspiration from cinema and the iconic photographers of the 80's, such as Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, and Herb Ritz. Through these influences, Lyon developed his own signature style, establishing himself as an irreverent, borderline rebel in today's homogenized fashion world. Lyon is an advocate of traditional photography and uses film as his medium of choice. In his photography career, he has captured many of the world's top models in various corners of the world, preferring location rather than studio. His work has been featured in exhibits across Europe and published in a variety of magazines, including Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ Italy , GQ Germany , Brazilian GQ, Vogue Russia, ZOO, 125, SOUP ,Spoon, S magazine, Wolf, and Treats Magazine.
Exhibitions
Steven's work has been exhibited in Europe and in 2004 Photo Magazine and Fujifilm sponsored an exhibition of his work at the Plaza Athenée in Paris. In 2015, Steven's work was exhibited in A. Gaerie in Paris, France, as a part of the Platinum exhibit. The exhibit ran from April 9, 2015 to May, 30, 2015.
Wildlife conservation
Lyon is a wildlife conservationist and founded Lyonheartlove, a non-profit organization dedicated to making documentary films in support endangered or threatened wildlife. Lyon is producing “Something That Matters,” a documentary film that focuses on the poaching crisis of rhinoceroses throughout South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Tanzania.

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