Jeanloup Sieff (1933–2000)

I was first introduced to Jeanloup Sieff's work when I was researching Yves Saint Laurent, and his crucially poised portrait of Saint Laurent remains on of my favourite photographs of all time, so I felt like it was time to explore Sieff's work further. I ordered this book in expected to get the major retrospective of his work, but instead I got an exhibition catalogue for a show of his work put on by the Musée D'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (presumably). I can't really tell definitively if it's the only host museum/gallery, since the entire thing is in French and I can't be bothered to attempt to decipher the bibliographic references.

The selection of work was a little bit random from my perspective (unknowning of the unifying theme or flow of hte show, if it ever existed), but I still quite enjoyed perusing the collection. It is largely comprised of female nudes (captioned often simply as "Paris") and landscapes from Death Vallery, interspersed with mummies from Palermo and some editorial fashion work. In retrospecta few key theme emerge from the collection for me, focusing on visual narratives of death, physical landscapes (land and flesh alike), and inevitably time and it ravages (or lack there of), but I prefer to enjoy some of the images more simply on their own. Saint Laurent's nude remains a standout among the panoply of female flesh (expected and boring), but the textures and sheer scale of the Death Valley series are also rather stunning. Sieff's self portrait for his 40th(?) birthday was also memorable, because it revealed a whimsical self-view of his work as a recorder of the world - and vetrays a humour that is rarely evident in the remainder of his "serious" photography work. Much more in this artist to explore, I am sure, it's just a matter of getting hold of the material!… (more)

Sieff is one of our leading photographers of the female form, clothed or unclothed, and this volume of monochrome studies is a fine example of his craft. He manages to pose his young ladies in such highly varied ways that allows their natural beauty and erotic femininity to emerge strongly, but always subtly, and without the 'girlie' coyness endemic to commercial. Props and clothing are always elegant and well-chosen to complement the erotic content of images. The image sequence is punctuated by a number of insightful observations by Sieff, my favourite being 'An image has to be “beautiful” to be effective', a thought that is simple at first sight but whose tautological implications allow a few moments contemplation. An excellent, well produced collection.… (more)