Jack Mitchell (photographer)
Jack Mitchell (* September 13, 1925 in Key West, Florida; † November 7, 2013 in New Smyrna Beach, Florida ) was an American photographer, best known for his photographs of American dancers, artists, actors, musicians and writers.
Life and work
Early years
Mitchell's family moved in 1932 to New Smyrna Beach in Florida. At age eleven, Jack Mitchell began to photograph. First, he assisted his sister at work in the darkroom and could then own photographs in the Daytona News Journal and New Smyrna Beach News publish. At 15 he was paid for his photographs, after he had passed a test and become the youngest photographer was Florida. His first nationally published photo portrait appeared at this time in The Complete Photographer.
After his service as a photographer in the U.S. Army in Florence and Venice Mitchell moved in 1950 from Florida to New York City, where he focused on the advice of the dancer and choreographer Ted Shawn on the subject of dance. In 1957 he met Robert Pavlik ( 1932-2009 ), who became his business and life partner.
Career
From 1960 to 1970 Jack Mitchell was the official photographer for the American Ballet Theatre. He also made recordings for the dance groups Boston Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Pennsylvania Ballet, Houston Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, New York City Ballet and the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Photographs leading international groups appeared in the New York Times and Dance Magazine. In the New York Times published his pictures from 1970 to 1995. When he closed his studio in New York on 17 December 1995, the newspaper honored him with a full-page article.
Portrayed personalities
Commonly portrayed by Jack Mitchell in black and white personalities whose images have been published in leading newspapers and magazines, including, for example, Leonard Bernstein, Truman Capote, Keith Haring, Alfred Hitchcock, Rudolf Nureyev, Meryl Streep, John Updike, Andy Warhol, Tennessee Williams and Natalie Wood.
Mitchell's portraits of John Lennon and Yoko Ono were on November 2, 1980, shortly before Lennon 's death, recorded in Mitchell's studio in the East 74th Street for the New York Times and published a motif in December 1980, as Lennon Memorial edition of People magazine. Twelve photographs of Lennon and Ono Yoko Ono published in Book: John Lennon: Summer of 1980, it appeared in 1983 in New York..
Jack Mitchell lived and worked most recently back in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
Truman Capote (1980 )
Meryl Streep ( 1976-1979 )
Alfred Hitchcock
Natalie Wood (1979 )
Leonard Bernstein
Andy Warhol (1973 )
Leontyne Price (1981 )
Leontyne Price (1994 )
Collections
Jack Mitchell's work is represented in the Smithsonian Institution and at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Publications
- American Dance portfolio. Dodd, Mead, New York 1964.
- Dance Scene USA: America's Greatest Ballet and Modern Dance Companies in Photographs. World Publishing, Cleveland 1967.
- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Jack Mitchell Photographs. Andrews and McMeel, Kansas City 1993, ISBN 0-8362-4508-3.
- Icons and Idols: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Arts, 1960-1995. Amphoto, New York 1998, ISBN 0-8174-4025-9.
Film
Craig High Berger's documentary from 2006 about Mitchell's life and work entitled Jack Mitchell: My Life Is Black And White shows a large number of his photographs and includes interviews with many people portrayed as Edward Albee, Clive Barnes, Merce Cunningham, Patti LuPone and Ned Rorem.