Rheims, Bettina (b. 1952), French photographer who began in 1978 after working as a model, journalist, and lab assistant. She is extremely versatile, succeeding in fashion, advertising, portraiture, and photojournalism; but made her name with stylish nudes and studies of disconcertingly unprepossessing teenagers (Modern Lovers, 1990), transsexuals (Les Espionnes, 1992) and women posing provocatively in hotel rooms (Chambre Close, 1992). In 1997 she made a controversial series, I.N.R.I., of images recreating the life of Christ, published in 1998 with the writer Serge Bramly. She has received numerous awards.
