Two original oversize photographs of Sonny Stitt by photographer Herman Leonard, 1953

New Orleans: Herman Leonard, Circa mid 1990s. Two vintage borderless oversize photographs of bebop and hard bop jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt, taken in New York in 1953 and struck by legendary jazz photographer Herman Leonard circa mid-1990s. One photograph titled and signed by Leonard along the bottom edge. The other photograph, used by Leonard in publications, bears two photographer labels on the verso.

Also included is a shipping notice on Leonard’s personal letterhead, addressed to noted jazz photographer Jeff Kliman, with a brief annotation in Herman's hand: "(The Sonny Stitt is a TCC print. I'll get you a fiber based one as soon as I can!)."

Herman Leonard received a BFA in photography from Ohio University in 1947, and opened his first studio a year later, in Greenwich Village. He worked as a freelance commercial photographer by day, and spent his nights at the Royal Roost and Birdland, photographing jazz icons such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gilespie, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and of course Billie Holiday. His photographs from this period, which are now archived at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, represent a valuable and unique record of the jazz scene of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

14 x 11 inches and 11 x 13.5 inches. Vertical photograph with some light edgewear and light creasing at the extremities, else Near Fine overall.

[Book #159913]