Shadow Play: Celebrating Greg Lotus' Alluring Black & White Portraits

"I've trained my eye to see only black and white," writes Greg Lotus in the introduction to his new monograph, Shadows & Light, in which the fashion photographer has gathered images from his 25-year career that epitomize his talent for stripping away color to create graphic shapes and patterns. In the foreword, Eva Longoria, one of the many famous subjects Lotus has shot, contrasts his "soft-spoken, gentle" manner with the electricity of his work--"so full of life and noise, sex and allure." But Lotus also looks to nature for inspiration, finding an elegant harmony between his nudes and the environment. In his sun-bronzed men, in particular, there's a Homeric quality that is at once seductive, intimate, and tender. Shadows & Light (Gatehouse Publishing, $64.95) is available December 30.

Photography by Greg Lotus.