© Walter Iooss for Sports Illustrated

With over 300 Sports Illustrated covers under his belt, Walter Iooss is no slouch. Check this out! and this.

But still, I had to laugh when I read the last paragraph of his bio, describing his specialisation in SI swimsuit specials later in his career:

“Walter matured with his swimsuit work. Ah, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues for which the Iooss lens has born fruit, all the riper for the backgrounds. As in the action shots, the portraits of SI’s swimsuit issues reveal an uncanny graphics sense and Rembrandt-like reverence for light and shadow. He sought and found more control in his swimsuit photographs, especially in the early days traveling light with only cameras and beautiful women, without the interference of art directors.”

More power to him.

BTW, check out the Sports Illustrated Vault Twitter Feed for smile-worthy images of past sportsmen and sportswomen (but mostly sportsmen) doing goofy stuff.