Josef Astor was born in Ohio. He graduated with a BFA from Syracuse University and soon moved to New York where he worked as a photo assistant for Gosta Peterson, Deborah Turbeville, Irving Penn, and, briefly, Angus McBean. In 1985, he opened his own studio and began his historically informed, theatrically staged style that drew upon various influences from his life: art history, his father’s medical practice, science and magic. Astor has worked for such advertising clients as AT&T, IBM, Phillip Morris, Bergdorf Goodman, Absolut Vodka, and such magazines as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, GQ and The New York Times magazine. In 1996 he received the Infinity Award for Applied Photography from the International Center of Photography.