Product Description

First book on Herman Leonard's full body of work

Only book in print containing his iconic jazz portraits of Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Quincy Jones, among others.

Accompanies traveling exhibition of Herman Leonard's photography organized by the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans.

Foreword by Quincy Jones

With a camera as his backstage pass, Herman Leonard has photographed the giants of jazz in their golden age, movie stars on set and the fashion world of Paris in the 1960s, as well as the inner sanctums of his beloved New Orleans. His friendships with the jazz greats allowed him to vividly capture the magical moments of the Harlem and Paris jazz clubs in the 1940s and 50s, using his unique command of cinematic lighting to capture the essence of the time. His colorful life and travels enabled him to document the lives of cultural icons of his day, with such rare images as Marilyn Monroe on an elephant in the circus, to Albert Einstein at his desk.

This exquisite book is the first full treatment of this extraordinary life and distinctive body of work, giving Leonard's photographs the artistic recognition they deserve.

David Houston is Chief Curator at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #178574 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

One of the Great Photographers of our Time
Herman Leonard is by far one of the best photographers I have ever had the privilege to come across. I was visiting New Orleans a few weeks ago and came across a documentary on the local Louisiana station, it was a documentary on Leonard. If you ever have the chance to view this please do so because its an amazing story about a remarkable man. Generally, it takes a great deal to inspire me to want to study portraits, for me portraits are the most complex images to appreciate with the passage of time. Yet with Leonard's images (including his commercial works,) you can sit down and study them and you still find inspiration in them over and over again. His work is one of a kind, and his vision is the strongest I have ever seen in a photographer.

Jazz Lovers Rejoice
Looking for a gift for a jazz lover, photography buff or international
traveler? Look no farther. JAZZ, GIANTS AND JOURNEYS: THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF
HERMAN LEONARD is a mind-blower. The meticulously detailed photos of jazz
greats like Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Billie Holliday, Quincy Jones and
others recreate the essence of an era so well that the viewer can actually
see, hear and smell the flavor of the 40's and 50's NY jazz venues where
the musicians played. Included in this wonderful book is a photo of the
great Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan, taken in 1970, long before they
were blown up by the Taliban. This alone makes the book vital.

Just buy it!
If you're a fan of jazz or photography, this is the book for you. Lovely rich photo reproduction and pictures of the jazz greats - often behind the scenes - that make you feel as though you were there.