Frame After Frame: The Images of Herman Leonard; Part 1

Louisiana Public Broadcasting · April 1, 1998

"Frame After Frame: The Images of Herman Leonard His 'hobby' of shooting portraits of the jazz immortals of the 1940s and 50s has landed his photographs in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institution. He counts Quincy Jones and Tony Bennett among his closest friends. He has done photo shoots in the Himalayas, traveled the Orient with Marlon Brando, and photographed the most beautiful women in the world on commercial shoots around the globe. Narrated by Tony Bennett, Frame After Frame: The Images of Herman Leonard tells the story of the life and work of this renowned photographer through interviews with Herman, his friend Quincy Jones and , of course, through extraordinary photographs he has produced. After getting discharged from the army and graduating from Ohio University in 1947, young Herman Leonard went north to Canada to apprentice with world famous photographic artist Yousuf Karsh. While working with the master, Herman assisted in shooting portraits of Albert Einstein, President Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, General Dwight [Eisenhower] and Martha Graham. When Herman Leonard arrived in New York in the late 1940s, jazz was king. Trading his photographs to club owners to gain entr'e to the clubs and the music he loved, he captured the smoky essence of the New York jazz scene as few have before or since. Herman's elegant portraits are a reminder of a simpler and more stylish era. Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughn and Billie Holiday are just a few of the jazz immortals captured by his visual artistry. Now living in New Orleans, Leonard and his jazz portraits have been 'rediscovered' in recent years and he is in demand for showings around the world. Frame After Frame: The Images of Herman Leonard is the story of a man whose art has finally received the recognition it deserves, even if it took almost 50 years for it to happen."--1998 Peabody Awards entry form.