Secchiaroli, Tazio. Tazio Secchiaroli. I Grandi Fotografi. Serie Argento. By Attilio Columbo.

Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, 1983. Text in Italian. Wraps, 64 pages, 55 full-page photographs. Street photography and photos of movie stars and directors such as Sophia Loren, Virna Lisi, Vittorio De Sica, Charlie Chaplin, Omar Shariff, Marcello Mastroianni, Carlo Ponti, Federico Fellini, Ornella Muti, Tony Perkins, et al. Near fine, uncommonly found in this condition.  Summary:

azio Secchiaroli: I Grandi Fotografi (Serie Argento), written and curated by noted Italian photography critic Attilio Colombo, is a definitive monograph celebrating one of Italy’s most culturally influential 20th-century photojournalists. Published by Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri as part of their acclaimed I Grandi Fotografi series, this volume compiles over fifty full-page plates tracking Secchiaroli's evolution from a hard-nosed street shooter to the definitive visual chronicler of international cinema's golden age.

Key Elements of the Monograph

• The Original "Paparazzo": The book thoroughly examines Secchiaroli’s foundational role in inventing modern celebrity-chasing photojournalism. In 1955, he co-founded the Roma Press Photo agency and began aggressively capturing candid, high-friction nighttime images of Hollywood stars and elite figures carousing along Rome's Via Veneto. His kinetic, confrontational style and iconic scoops—such as the infamous 1958 Aïché Nana striptease at the Rugantino restaurant—directly inspired director Federico Fellini to create the character "Paparazzo" in La Dolce Vita, forever tying Secchiaroli to the birth of the term.

• Transition to the Film Set: A major narrative arc in Colombo's curation is Secchiaroli's brilliant professional pivot away from predatory street photography and into the inner sanctum of the film industry. Armed with his sharp documentary instincts, he became cinema's premier "special photographer" (unit still photographer), invited onto closed movie sets by the very directors and actors he used to ambush.

• The Fellini and Loren Collaborations: The book highlights his deep, legendary creative alliances with Italy's cinematic giants. It showcases his intimate behind-the-scenes reportage of Federico Fellini at work—notably on masterpieces like 8½—where Secchiaroli captured the director's chaotic, dreamlike creative process. It also features his iconic, multi-decade portraits of international icons like Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren, the latter of whom chose Secchiaroli as her exclusive personal photographer for nearly twenty years.

• A Visual Map of an Era: Beyond raw celebrity culture, the monograph functions as a broader sociological record of post-WWII Italy’s economic miracle. Secchiaroli’s high-contrast, black-and-white images reflect the dramatic tension between traditional Italian life and the glitzy, Americanized consumer culture overflowing into Rome during the 1950s and 1960s.

Summary

Attilio Colombo's Tazio Secchiaroli is a masterfully organized look at a visionary who completely revolutionized the relationship between the camera and celebrity. It effectively frames Secchiaroli not merely as a scandalous tabloid shooter, but as an exceptionally talented, empathetic artist who captured the raw energy, vulnerability, and artifice of 20th-century cinema from the inside out.