Jeanloup Sieff: 40 Years of Photography

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His photographs, however, communicate an undying fascination with the glossy world of the movies, of pleasurable lives lived under the Hollywood sky, of movie-still photography, where a moment of glamour is paused with all the expressionistic lighting effects of the film set still glowing. OLIVIER ZAHM — We really don’t know so much about his life. Was he a playboy in the ’70s and ’80s? Was he secretive?

OLIVIER ZAHM — As a photo­grapher, how do you detach yourself from such a rich and strong heritage?Sieff argues that dancers have a 'corporeal intelligence' that enables them to fill space with their movements. 'Among the models I photograph for the fashion magazines, I recognize immediately the ones that have studied dance. They know how to carry their heads, they have a certain way of sitting and a natural elegance that the mastery of their bodies has shaped forever.' Paris. ‘Living with my Abyssinian cats, working for French Vogue, still wandering around with my old Leica.’ And that’s kind of how it was for the rest of his life. For a while, he was again the new kid in town, making pictures which brought the scent of the world to Paris – a city so often parochialised by its own self-regard. It was then and there he made the work that made him famous beyond the tight world of art directors – the nudes, luscious yet never lascivious. You never get the sense he was poking his lens through the keyhole – as you do in, say, Steichen. Nor, though, is there the dangerous thrill of Newton, let alone Mapplethorpe or Goldin. The archetypal – if not the best – Sieff image of female sexuality is the smart, sweet picture of his wife Barbara exposing her breasts in Death Valley, smiling. Like Brandt, like Courbet, he makes landscape and flesh seem like the same things.

His true love of life,…not just photography,…is really the legacy left behind by Jeanloup Sieff. And it shows in his work. His books are some of the best monographs out there. And actual photos are available at very reasonable collector prices. ( a secret ) While he used a 21mm lens, probably the 28mm lens was used most with a Leica M4. Find Leica M4 or Find Leica 28mm or Find Leica 21mm He sums up his work this way: “There are no reasons for my photographs, nor any rules; all depends on the mood of the moment, on the mood of the model. “ On art … B&H – B&H is a world renowned supplier of all the gear photographers, videographers, and cinematographers need and want to create their very best work. Elle US, 1995."This is from the same series, and it was taken in Normandy... more Adriana Karembeu, fashion Dolce & Gabbana, Normandy, France,He died, aged 66, of cancer, in his beloved Paris on September 20, 2000. ‘I don’t believe in God,’ he had written. ‘But women and trees are proof of his existence.’ He joined the Magnum photographic agency in 1958, before his fashion forays, and was applauded covering the death of Pope Pius XII. He worked for them throughout Europe until he left for New York and started with Harpers Bazaar, immersing himself in the diametrically opposed world of fashion. Remember, his use of a wide angle lenses in fashion and celebrity portraiture was groundbreaking at the time.

His work is owned by major museums in France, Germany, Switzerland and the US, and he exhibited in all those places as well as in London (where he held his first show in 1967) and Tokyo (where the erotic aspect of his work was well regarded). Other books, which eschewed silly titles, were called The Ballet (1962) or Best Nudes (1980) - although he couldn't resist calling one volume Bottoms (1994).

Back to Paris

He graduated in 1945 with a degree in philosophy then went onto a varied list of studies including literature, journalism and photography at Vaugirard in Paris and Vevey in Switzerland. OLIVIER ZAHM — He’s famous for his nudes. How did he get his models to be so confident in front of his lens?