Sieff, Jeanloup. The Great Photographers: Jeanloup Sieff.

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri & Prentice Hall, 1982. Text and photographs by Jeanloup Sieff with a tribute by Giuseppi Bonini.  [A good selection of Sieff's portraits, fashion photographs, and erotic images of nude women. Portraits include Rudolph Nureyev, Kirk Douglas, Charlotte Rampling, Romain Gary, Christa, and Twiggy. Biographical information provided in chronology, bibliography, and list of exhibitions.] Stiff wraps, 64 pages, first printing thus, fine.  Summary:

The Great Photographers: Jeanloup Sieff is a curated retrospective celebrating the career of the legendary French photographer Jeanloup Sieff. Published as part of Collins' influential monograph series, the book synthesizes his prolific contributions across fashion, portraiture, nudes, and landscape photography.

Key Elements of the Monograph

• The Black-and-White Master: The book highlights Sieff’s fierce devotion to the discipline of black-and-white photography, specifically his mastery of silver gelatin printing and deep tonal ranges. His signature darkroom technique—featuring visible dodging marks and high-contrast shadow play—is on full display.

• The Wide-Angle Perspective: A central focus of the book is Sieff’s revolutionary use of wide-angle lenses, such as the 21mm and 28mm focal lengths. At a time when wide-angle lenses were strictly reserved for photojournalism or architectural documentation, Sieff brought them into fashion and portraiture, using the subtle spatial distortions to create immense dynamism and dramatic perspective.

• Iconic Fashion and Portraiture: The retrospective documents his extensive 1960s and 1970s work in New York and Paris for major publications like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Elle, including his intimate, legendary portraits of cultural icons like Yves Saint Laurent, Alfred Hitchcock, Jane Birkin, and Rudolf Nureyev.

• Sensuality, Irony, and the Human Form: The collection showcases Sieff's approach to the human body. His work is celebrated for its elegant, playful, and deeply sophisticated eroticism, balancing a sense of Proustian nostalgia with a touch of irony and humor.

Summary

The Great Photographers: Jeanloup Sieff serves as a definitive primer on a visionary artist who effortlessly bridged the gap between commercial fashion and high art. It perfectly encapsulates Sieff's unique visual language—one defined by elegance, spatial tension, and a sensual mastery of light and shadow.