Jean Pigozzi Captures the Glamour of the Vanity Fair Oscar Party | Vanity Fair

Jean Pigozzi—or Johnny, to his friends—is no stranger to the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. By his count, he’s attended the event at least eight or nine times, not counting the many years he went to the legendary bash as a guest of Graydon Carter when it was just a dinner at Mortons. This year, the man-about-town and central subject of the HBO documentary I Am Curious Johnny was seated next to his old pal Carter at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party dinner, amongst other compatriots.

“The dinner party was fun because I knew nearly everybody. There were 10 of us,” Pigozzi says over the phone. “I was next to Anjelica [Huston], who I’ve known for 100 years. Mick [Jagger] I’ve known for 50 years. Graydon, I’ve known for 30 years. It was really like having dinner with old friends.”

For those familiar with Pigozzi, his many connections shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The October 2008 issue of this very magazine contained a feature called “Five Degrees of Jean Pigozzi,” showing him as the shining sun at the center of a celebrity universe. But what Pigozzi, whose late father was CEO of the Italian automotive brand and Fiat spin-off Simca, is arguably best known for is his penchant for picture-taking. Many consider him the father of the celebrity selfie, after he had the wherewithal to turn his Leica camera around in 1974 to take a photo of himself and Faye Dunaway during his days as an undergrad at Harvard.

Thankfully, Pigozzi broke out his famous camera at Vanity Fair’s 2026 Oscar Party as well. He snapped a mix of black-and-white photos and colorful, chaotic shots, capturing the event’s astounding cast of characters. He has unorthodox methods: “I use a very small Sony camera, which just fits in the palm of my hand,” says Pigozzi. “People walk around this big threatening thing with big flashers and all that, and people get nervous. But when they see me, a big guy with this, they say, “Oh, what is this?” They don’t really care.” Pigozzi stands 6 feet 4 inches; you can barely see the Sony in the palm of his hand as he works the room manually, snapping photo after photo.

“I try to make them as natural as possible,” he says. “It’s completely different from some paparazzi who want the pretty girl with her right leg in front of the left leg—perfect. I’m not really interested in that. I’m interested in taking very normal pictures, possibly with a slight sense of humor.”

So while guests were encouraged to refrain from taking photographs—VF had plenty of photographers on site to take care of that—Pigozzi took over a thousand photos over the course of the evening. (The grand total: 1,700.) As he wandered the room, he made new friends, like Jon Batiste, and even served as a connector of sorts for the starry guest list, introducing the Grammy winner to his old friend Mick Jagger. “Bizarrely enough, they kind of knew each other, but had never met,” says Pigozzi. “They became instant friends, and then you see there’s a picture of them dancing together.”

A natural connector, Pigozzi was right at home at the party. “It’s so incestuous, this Hollywood thing. People want to meet different people,” Pigozzi says. He’s happy to be the one to do it, though even the 73-year-old admits he sometimes needs a little help. “I don’t know [all of] these people. So next year, I would need somebody from Vanity Fair who says, ‘Oh, this is the greatest young painter from Indianapolis, and you should introduce them to Gagosian.’ I’m happy to introduce them and then take some funny pictures.”

Pigozzi has but one party regret: “I got there at three o’clock, and I left at midnight,” he says. “I didn’t wait for all the people to walk in with their Oscars. I was too tired.” But what he was able to capture before the clock struck midnight is a sight to behold. There’s John Waters whispering sweet nothings into Kim Kardashian’s ear. There’s Larry David standing in the corner. (“He’s kind of a weird old camel,” jokes Pigozzi.) There are Jane Fonda and Nicole Kidman, locked in conversation.

“You could really see people who were having a good time.” he says. “And that’s the most important. It didn’t feel corporate. You know what I liked about it? It was relaxed.”

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