Unseen Steve McQueen: The King of Cool at work and play in captivating photographs

A mesmerizing collection of never-before-seen photographs have captured the icon that was Steve McQueen at the height of his movie career.

The stunning 120-plus monochromatic images were taken by one of McQueen's closest friends, Barry Feinstein, who was notorious for restricting access to his incredible, closely guarded photographic archive.

But they have recently been released for the first time in the Reel Art Press book 'Unseen McQueen: Barry Feinstein,' and give a glimpse into the private life as well as the public life of one of America's most adored leading men.

Great artists and great friends, Feinstein and McQueen, were the epitome of cool. While McQueen was busy creating his epic legacy of films, starring in The Thomas Crown Affair, The Great Escape and Bullitt, Feinstein was capturing not just the big screen heartthrob but the real man in action.

The resulting collection has an extraordinary breadth to it, with intimate moments of McQueen with family and friends, particularly his young son, on and off the set of the 1968 film Bullitt and alongside the racetrack, the daredevil's second home.

As they were such close friends, Feinstein was afforded unique access to McQueen both on and off screen and the resulting pictures have their own ground-breaking style that is at the same time unconventional, naturalistic, contemporary and not at all contrived.

An archetypal anti-hero, McQueen went from juvenile delinquent to international superstar and is still revered today as the undisputed King of Cool, an identity that shines through in every one of Feinstein's images.

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