Herman Leonard
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"Louis Armstrong - Paris 1960"
Signed Herman Leonard and dated 88. Printed circa 1988 in conjuntion with Leonards debut show at Special Photographers Company, London. Gelatin silver print, image 24 x 34.5 cm. Sheet 30 x 40.5 cm.
Provenance
The Special Photographers Company, London. Acquired in 1988 by the current owner.
Exhibitions
Special Photographers Company, London, 1988.
More information
"This is the image I have in my mind: Herman Leonard, 65 years old, bowed and partly beaten, his marriage over, his 9 year old son and 14 year old daughter in tow, carrying a suitcase across a street in London's Ladbroke Grove. If this were a Harry Potter movie the suitcase would be a talisman, with a slight animation to make it glow, dimly.
Inside the suitcase (to be stuffed under the bed in a temporary flat) are hundreds of 4x5 and 120 mm negatives, critical moments from the past of American Jazz.
Lost -- and uncertain how to proceed -- he attempts to interest galleries in his work. None are. Until finally in the summer of 1988 The Special Photographers Company in London decides to give him a chance. In one month 10,000 people attend."
Ethan Russell, from the article "Music, Words, & Photography: Herman Leonard's Jazz", Huffington Post 2011.