William Gottlieb

It was the love of music that brought the photography of William P. Gottlieb to the world’s attention. Originally a jazz columnist, William figured that columns accompanied with photographs might have a better chance to be published. During the late 30’s he began photographing jazz musicians to illustrate articles he wrote for The Washington Post. His weekly feature “Swing Sessions” was probably the first jazz column in a major newspaper and at the age of 22 he was Washington’s “Mr.Jazz”.

In 1948, he left the jazz field for a career in publishing with Britannica and McGraw Hill and it wasn’t until his retirement that he resurrected his old jazz photos and in 1979, published “The Golden Age of Jazz".

Although he never resumed taking jazz photos, his photographs have become the most widely reproduced jazz illustrations, having four US postage stamps, 250 record album covers, and having appeared in over 160 exhibitions around the world.

Submitted by Gallery 270