Tazio Secchiaroli greatest of the Paparazzi
Author: Mormorio, Diego.
Publication: New York City, NY: Harry N. Abrams, 1999.
Binding: Hardcover with dustjacket, 29 x 26 cm.



It all began on the night of August 15 1958, before the word paparazzo existed. A number of photographers were strolling up and down Via Veneto in Rome.
Suddenly they saw ex-King Farouk of Egypt sitting at a table in the Cafe de Paris between the two young Capece-Minutolo sisters. One of the photographers went up and took a picture. The king lost his temper. The result was a great commotion. Some hours later the same photographers saw the famous film stars Anita Ekberg and Anthony Steel coming out of a nightclub, evidently quarreling. One approached them and took a picture using his flashlight. Not long after, the photos of these events were published under banner headlines in the tabloids. Tazio Secchiaroli, undoubtedly the most famous photographer of the group, said: "On that occasion we found that with small incidents created deliberately we could get pictures that earned us a lot of money."
Born on the outskirts of Rome, Tazio Secchiaroli (1925-1998) started his career as a photojournalist, and went on to mingle with some of the most famous social figures, actors, and directors of his day, inspiring greater demand for his already popular photographs. He pioneered the art of public exposure, leading a pack of fellow paparazzi in the quest for the most suggestive, even scandalous, photographs of their chosen subjects. Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Vanessa Redgrave, Gregory Peck, Federico Fellini, Peter Sellers - these are just a few of the celebrities and film directors photographed by Secchiaroli during the 1950s and 1960s. Not mere clichéd snapshots, however, his images always managed to achieve a higher realm of artistic beauty. Secchiaroli's experiences both behind the scenes and on the set ultimately served as a model for a character in Fellini's 1960 film La Dolce Vito, in which the term paparazzo was coined.
In this first book on the premiere paparazzo - who sadly did not live to see its completion-200 stunning duotone photographs illustrate Secchiaroli's career from his beginnings as a photojournalist, to his appointment as Fellini's set photographer, to his twenty-year stint as Sophia Loren's personal photographer. Diego Mormorio, photography historian and critic, adds a moving portrait of the man behind the camera, and surveys his work in its historical context. Ultimately leaving his paparazzo experiences behind, Secchiaroli worked on film sets and in private sittings, creating a gallery of subtle glances, sensuous gestures, and beautiful portraits in which a glamorous Italy comes alive.