William Gottlieb

Born in 1917 in Brooklyn, NY, Gottlieb began his career in jazz as a journalist covering jazz shows for the Washington Post. When the newspaper decided not to pay a photographer to accompany him, Gottlieb took it upon himself to photograph musicians to illustrate his column. After World War II, Gottlieb went to New York City to work at Downbeat magazine and there he photographed many of the early stars of jazz at clubs such as Club Downbeat, The Three Dueces, Birdland, and Jimmy Ryan's to name a few. He quickly became known for his photographs more than for his writing, and his portraits of musicians like Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong are classic depictions of these artists at the height of their careers.