We'll start with my very favorite of Claxton's. Below is the Stan Kenton Band on some beach. Lots of things I love about the photo. Use of shadows is brilliant. There is an exuberance about the band, and if you are familiar with Kenton's music, you know that his was one of the most bombastic of the big bands. It just captures a mood rare in photographs.
Claxton had a special relationship with Steve McQueen. I'd say at least a fourth of his famous photos are of McQueen, and Claxton has an entire book out featuring just shots of him. McQueen was famously jealous of Claxton photographing anyone else. Steve once told Claxton that he could not photograph McQueen if he took shots of anyone else remotely famous, and McQueen even tailed Claxton and his wife on one of their evenings out to spy on Claxton to make sure he wasn't meeting with other celebs. There are lots of McQueen photos to choose from, but I like this...
And this...
Other great celeb shots include Natalie Wood...
Lenny Bruce...
Frank Sinatra...
And he has a host of great jazz photos. Some are as follows.
Miles Davis (capturing his confrontational attitude perfectly)...
Duke Ellington...
Thelonious Monk...
Chet Baker...
Charlie Parker...
Cootie Williams...
There are many, many more that I love. I've got a fantastic coffee table book called "Jazz" with lots of his great jazz photos. If you want to see more, go here.
1 comment:
Dez,
The lighting on the first photo is not very good. I can't even make out their faces.
Are you sure the Charlie Parker photo isn't Alfred Hitchcock?
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