Richard Selby (1933-) - Soft landing - vintage - 1979 - Nor reserve

Photographer: Richard Selby (1933, London)
Soft Landing I
Year: c1979
Year of print: circa 1979, vintage
Signature: hand signed, numbered, and titled in black sharpie on the front. Annotated on the back.
Print: silver gelatin print, black and white photograph, Agfa baryta paper
Edition: 8/10 (on the backside numbered 3/5, which was the number of available prints in 2015).
Reference: Know Your Number, book published in 1991.
Image size: 22.6 x 34.0 cm.
Paper size: 35.0 x 44.4 cm

The last 4 images (a portrait of Richard Selby taken in 2015 at age 82, some covers of Playboy, his book 'Know Your Number,' and Richard Selby signing prints in 2015) are for reference only and are not part of this lot.

Condition: Fine (10)
As a classically trained photographer, Richard Selby mastered the darkroom printing process like no other. His photo prints possess unprecedented finesse, contrast, and tonality. Unless stated otherwise, irregularities and reflections on the displayed images are caused by scanning or photographing the prints.

KEYWORDS
Playboy, black & white, nude, fine art, Richard Avedon, Hiro, Japan, Japanese, Art Kane, Twen Magazine, Munich Germany, London U.K., New York U.S.A., gelatin silver print, limited edition, unique, silver gelatin print, vintage silver gelatin print, vintage gelatin silver print from the era, vintage silver salt gelatin print.

BIOGRAPHY
Richard Selby was born on August 6, 1933, in London, England. He graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in History. He spent several years working in London at various jobs before enrolling at Westminster University to study photography. At the end of his first year, he took a summer job in a New York studio, and from there, he found a job as an assistant to Art Kane, a famous editorial and advertising photographer. Two years later, he declined invitations from Richard Avedon and Hiro and started out on his own as a freelance editorial photographer in New York for magazines such as Look, Saturday Evening Post, Holiday, and Venture.

While on assignment for Venture, he visited Munich and was invited by Willy Fleckhaus to work for Twen magazine. Twen is still considered to be the most prestigious and influential magazine ever created. Besides Richard Selby and Will McBride, Twen invited freelance photographers like Jeanloup Sieff, David Hamilton, Wim Wenders, Sam Haskins, and Helmut Newton. Subsequently, he divided his time working for magazines in New York, London, Paris, Milan, and Munich. For the German edition of Playboy, he did a number of playmates, including the first one shot outside the U.S.A. He also began to do some corporate work. He has never solicited advertising photography.

Clients
Germany: Twen, Playboy, Jasmin, parents, girlfriend, Quick, and Stern.
England: Nova, Honey, Woman’s Own, and Over 21.
France: Depeche Mode and Marie France.
Italy: Grazia and others.

Know your number
In 1991, his first book of nudes, 'Know Your Number,' was published in Germany. Nearly 5,000 copies of this book were sold, mainly in the USA. After a period of ill health following the publication, a second, revised, and enlarged edition was released in 2001. Richard lives in Brighton, England, and is working to complete a long-standing project about artists.

Solo Shows
Books and Binding Gallery, New York, 1993
• Books and Binding Gallery, New York, 1994
Mono Gallery, London, 1997
Gwenola De Luze, Paris, 1998
• Sterts Art Centre, Cornwall, 1998
Laurant Struck Gallery, Paris, 1999
The Photo Cabinet Gallery, The Hague, 2012

Group Shows
Portfolio Gallery, London, 1990
• MBM Gallery, New York, 1992

Books
• Know Your Number (1st Ed. 1991, Monograph, Graphic+Photos+Art, Munich)
• NudeYork (Seibundo Shinkosha, Tokyo, 1995)
• Know Your Number (2nd Ed. 2001, Monograph, Catwalk Editions, Paris)

MAGAZINE ARTICLES
• Playboy, Germany, 1974-1975
Foto Magazine, Germany, 1991
• Esquire, Germany, 1992
• Das Magazine, Germany, 1992
PIC magazine UK, 1992
Black and White Art Photography, U.K., 1992
• Penthouse Forum, U.S.A., 1991
• Cupido, Norway, 1994
Libido, U.S.A., 1993
Black+White, Australia, July 2003.
British Journal of Photography, U.K., March 2003
Amateur Photographer, U.K., February 2003.

Magazine covers
• PIC magazine (January 1992, April 1992)
• The Magazine (February 1992)
Penthouse (January 1991)
• Esquire (February 1992)
• BW Art Photographer (September 1991)
Over 21 (1976)
British Journal of Photography (March 2003)
Modern Photography (1964)
Cupido (1994)
Libido (1994)