Davide Sorrenti

• Name — Davide Sorrenti • Born — 9 July 1976 • Birthplace — Naples, Italy • Died — 4 February 1997 • Occupation — Photographer • Years Active — 1995–1997 • Relatives — Mario Sorrenti (brother)

Davide Sorrenti was born in 1976 in Naples in a family of photographers. The Sorrentis moved to New York in January 1982, partly because Davide had thalassemia (or Cooley's anemia, a hereditary form of anemia), and needed regular blood transfusions and medical care. The disease made him look several years younger than his real age. His brother Mario documented his sufferings one of many nights, published in the book The Machine, titled for the drug infusion pump that Davide was hooked up to. Sorrenti attended Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities, with fellow skateboarders and graffiti artists. His tag was Argue (SKE) with whom he formed a rap group called The Mosaics, because of their wide mix of ethnicities; he also started the streetwear label Danücht.

Sorrenti shot for magazines such as Interview, Ray Gun, i-D, Detour, Independent, Surface and Dune. He shot for fashion brands such as Hugo Boss, Bergdorf Goodman, Supreme, Hysteric Glamour and Zoo York. He also worked with Kaws, Kate Moss, Milla Jovovich and Jaime King. Sorrenti founded the fashion brand Danücht, which is best known for its anti-commercial "MODELS SUCK" t-shirt worn by English model Naomi Campbell in the 1996 film Girl 6. In a series of snapshots published in Interview in 1996, Sorrenti's friends from SKE (See Know Evil) are portrayed hanging out in a run-down apartment, watching TV and using drugs. One of Sorrenti's photos shows a young Jaime King lying on a bed, with torn clothes surrounded with photos of Kurt Cobain, Sid Vicious, and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Sorrenti died on February 4, 1997. He had been on holidays in Mexico prior to his death and had missed a blood transfusion. There were drugs in his system, but they were not lethal. According to his mother, "Davide was born with a blood disorder [...] he did not die of a heroin overdose. He died because he used drugs and his body couldn't take it."