To say that Ron Galella, the godfather of US paparazzi culture, is obsessed with Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis is an understatement. Galella took literally thousands of candid shots of the legendary style icon from 1968 through 1981, and his photographs remain the most enduring, most beautiful, and most revealing images of her in existence. In fact, it is widely held that our collective memory of Jackie would be non-existent if it weren’t for Ron Galella, though his body of work did not come by easy means. Galella had to deal with constant hurtles of court battles, restraining orders, and heavy fines, because Jackie put up a grand front of personal privacy. Fashion designer and director Tom Ford was right on the money when he said, “Ironically, the very photographs that Mrs. Onassis resisted were the ones that define her as an icon.”

And just when you thought you’d seen every iconic image of Jackie, this 400-page, gilded masterpiece arrives featuring many never-before-published photos of the subject who is arguably the most famous woman in history. “She was, and still is, the most famous, most photographed woman in the world,” Galella writes in his introduction to Jackie: My Obsession. “I believe only Elvis could meet or exceed her level of fame.”

Among the hundreds of spontaneous portraits of Jackie in Jackie: My Obsession, are many intriguing shots of her with the Kennedy family, as well as long, lingering glimpses into the Jackie-and-Ari years. Where Galella’s first book, Jacqueline (1976), was more of an autobiographical entry from the photographer, this book functions as a richly-told visual narrative of the eternal icon’s life, and acts as the definitive collection of Jackie photographs. Rounding out the book are written contributions by Matthias Harder, Chief Curator of the Helmut Newton Foundation, and Valentino, along with quotes from various sources, including Michael Kors, Andy Warhol, Halston, Christine Onassis, and more.

Jackie: My Obsession has been produced in two editions: a standard first-edition hardcover, and a limited slip-cased edition of 200 that includes a signed and numbered 11×14″ print of the cover image—Galella’s most famous photo, Windblown Jackie.

Published: 2012