Jeanloup Sieff

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Jeanloup Sieff (November 30, 1933 – 20 September 2000) was a practitioner of the photographic art of high fashion, and avowed a fidelity to the frivolous and superficial. His legacy places him in the top rank of fashion and art photographers.

Sieff was born in Paris to parents of Polish origin. His interest in photography was first piqued when he received a Photax plastic camera as a birthday gift for his fourteenth birthday. In 1953 he attended the Vaugirard School of Photography in Paris, later on moved to the Vevey School in Switzerland, and in 1954 he was already working as a freelance reporter, leaving aside his brief interest in cinema.

In 1956 he began shooting fashion photography, and in 1958 he joined the Magnum Agency. His work for them made him travel to Italy, Greece, Poland and Turkey. He settled in New York for a number of years in the Sixties, where he worked for Esquire, Glamour, Vogue and Harpers Bazaar, becoming extremely popular in America.

He won a number of prizes, including the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in Paris in 1981 and the Grand Prix National de la Photographie in 1992. He photographed many celebrities, among them Jane Birkin, Yves Montand, Alfred Hitchcock, and Rudolf Nureyev. Dancers and nudes were two recurring themes in his works. Jeanloup Sieff died in Paris, September 20, 2000 at the age of 66.