I'll finish this week with this superb little documentary that gives a great insight about the photographer Herman Leonard, who died this week. Although known as a jazz photographer, Herman Leonard was much more than that, but i imagine that it will be the jazz images that he'll be best remembered for. I don't suppose Herman would mind that considering his love of photography and jazz.
I've always had a soft spot for this photographer's work. I was introduced to the great jazz photography of Herman Leonard by a friend during my early student years. Yes, my friend was a huge jazz fan, a live music photographer, so Leonard was, naturally, his hero. The photography was just beautiful and we would study the images carefully whilst listening to jazz classics. It certainly was a great way to get an education in music and photography.
Like the musicians that he photographed, Herman Leonard was a one off, a master of his craft. Regardless of whether you love jazz or not, Herman's images captured the mood and the music perfectly. Not many photographers can claim that. A book of the photographer's work called 'Jazz' is to be published in the UK in November.
2 comments:
Fantastic post Richard. I grew up in a musical family we all play piano. My father is 84 now and still plays. He played with big bands during the tail end of the war in London. Oscar Peterson is his favourite. These images that Herman took captured the ambience of the jazz scene perfectly. I could almost hear the music, thanks for that. Kev
Wow. This is cool!
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