Lloyd Ziff

Lloyd Ziff (September 27, 1942–August 1, 2024) was an American photographer and art director known for his work on influential magazines such as Vanity Fair, House & Garden, Rolling Stone, and Condé Nast Traveler. ^[1][2][3]

Ziff was born in Detroit, Michigan, the only child of Frances (Maimes) Ziff and Max Ziff, an upholsterer. His father died when he was five, and he moved with his mother to Los Angeles. He graduated from Beverly Hills High School and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in 1967. ^[4]

In 1968, Ziff photographed art school classmates Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith in their Brooklyn apartment. His early black-and-white portraits captured intimate, formative moments before both would rise to fame.

Ziff began in the design department at McCall's magazine and then moved to CBS Records, designing album covers, including the 1972 reissue of Bessie Smith: The Empress, which earned him a Grammy nomination. In the 1970s, he worked at Rolling Stone and Playgirl and helped launch New West, the West Coast sister publication of New York magazine.

He later worked for The New York Times Magazine, House & Garden, and Vanity Fair, where he oversaw visually striking covers and layouts. Ziff was known for his emphasis on photography, often commissioning photographers such as Sheila Metzner and Bridgette Lacombe, fostering their careers and trusting them with creative freedom.

Ziff died on August 1, 2024, at his home in Orient Point, New York, at the age of 81.^[5]

1. He admired youth. He first became known for his photos that captured youth.
2. He used photography as a way to relate to and undertsand people, "Although we werent particularly close, Mr. Ziff said, I believe we recignized in each other something that couldn't be captured with words."
3. His first job was in the design department of McCall’s magazine. He stayed there for about a year before moving to CBS Records, where he designed album covers. He was nominated for a Grammy for the 1972 reissue “Bessie Smith: The Empress.”
4. He then moved onto working for Playgirl in 75'. That is where he helped launch New West magazine, New York magazine's West Coast sister.
5. He spent the rest of the 70s working for all the magazine's listed under "Career."
6. He had moved on from photography to Art Direction by the 90s, during that time he worked for The New York Times Magazine and then House & Garden, a Condé Nast publication that he helped transform from a crafty D.I.Y. service magazine into an elegant portfolio of luxurious interiors with essays by literary lions like Elizabeth Hardwick and Rosamond Bernier.
7. In 1999, he had a heart attack and made him realize he needed to back to photography, what he truly loved, before it was too late.
8. He met his Husband, Stephen Kelemen in 1979, they married in 2008. They had 2 adopted children, Pond and Chandra.

• Official website
• Lloyd Ziff at IMDb
• https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/07/arts/lloyd-ziff-dead.html