Florence Welch. Photo by Nadav Kander for Rolling Stone, November 24, 2011, issue.

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In addition to fronting the chart-topping group Florence and the Machine, the towering, flame-haired Florence Welch has become a muse for the fashion world. And no wonder—she cuts quite a compelling figure. Any photographer would be thrilled to shoot her, but for a feature in the new issue of Rolling Stone, creative director Jodi Peckman chose Nadav Kander. “I was tired of seeing ‘fashion’ photos of her and wanted to do the opposite,” Jodi explained to me in an email. “I couldn’t think of anything that could possibly top a Nadav Kander portrait of her!”

The portrait above, which Nadav shot in London, accompanied a feature by Vanessa Grigoriadis titled “Florence and the Witch: How the arty, ethereal Florence Welch became the Stevie Nicks of the ‘Twilight’ generation.”

While we’re on the subject of portraiture, here’s a look back at eleven of Nadav’s other photos of notable names: Robert Plant, Larry King, Michael Fassbender, Mike Tyson, the Arctic Monkeys, Nick Cave, Matt Lucas, Werner Herzog, Lily Allen, Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt, and Ricky Gervais.

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Robert Plant. Photo by Nadav Kander.

Larry King. Photo by Nadav Kander.

Michael Fassbender. Photo by Nadav Kander.

Mike Tyson. Photo by Nadav Kander.

The Arctic Monkeys. Photo by Nadav Kander.

Nick Cave. Photo by Nadav Kander.

Matt Lucas. Photo by Nadav Kander.

Werner Herzog. Photo by Nadav Kander.

Lily Allen. Photo by Nadav Kander.

Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt. Photo by Nadav Kander.

Ricky Gervais. Photo by Nadav Kander.

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Matt Lucas, 2009. Photo by Nadav Kander.

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The photograph is on view through January 8 at the National Portrait Gallery in an exhibition titled “Comedians: From the 1940s to Now,” which also features work by Annie Leibovitz, Karl J Kaul, Lewis Morley, and Bill Brandt. “This display gave us the opportunity to highlight a group of people that have always been held high in public affection, with their performances often creating national talking points,” Clare Freestone, the NPG’s associate curator of photographs, told The Guardian in an article about the show.

Click on the image below to view the Guardian‘s slideshow of portraits from the exhibition.

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Click image to view "Funny faces: comedians from the 40s to now" at the Guardian's website.

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