Norman Seeff
A renowned American photographer known for his iconic portraits of some of the most influential figures in music, art, and popular culture. His work captures the essence of his subjects, often revealing their raw, authentic selves in intimate and captivating moments. Seeff's portfolio includes legendary images of artists like Steve Jobs, Patti Smith, Ray Charles, and many others. His ability to establish a deep connection with his subjects and create images that transcend time has solidified his status as a true master of portrait photography, leaving a lasting impact on the world of visual arts.
Signed limited edition fine art print of Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith taken in 1969, New York City, by celebrated photographer and filmmaker, Norman Seeff
As a renowned graphic designer (with 5 Grammy nominations), Norman Seeff has designed a number of large-scale composites and sequences. Signed limited edition sequence print of comedian Steve Martin, taken in Los Angeles by Norman Seeff in 1974.
Norman recalls - “When I relocated to LA as Creative Director of United Artist Records in 1971, I rented a house in Laurel Canyon and Steve lived in a bungalow on my street. Steve’s manager gave me a video of Steve sitting on a toilet telling jokes. I took it to the execs at UA. They looked at it and said they didn’t think he was funny and passed. I tried. My biggest problem in working with Steve was to hold the camera steady.”
Signed limited edition fine art print of Joni Mitchell, taken by Norman Seeff for the cover of the 1976 album, Hejira.
“Over the years, I shot Joni 13 times. She was always astounding. One minute, she is lying on the street using chalk to draw the outline of her body, the next moment I'm in her studio looking at her emotionally evocative paintings. After that, she's playing piano and introducing me to some new work. Later, we ended up shooting her in her swimming pool. Joni always came up with ideas and we would joust a bit until we agreed on what we wanted to do. Some were straight-up photo sessions but once she drove up with a bunch of wolves and we had to set up an electrified fence.”
- Norman Seeff