By Daryl Lang

Photographer William Claxton, whose revealing portraits of jazz musicians defined the look of the 1960s West Coast jazz scene, died Saturday, October 11. He was 80.

He died in Los Angeles of complications from congestive heart failure, the Los Angeles Times reported. His death was confirmed by his agent and his publisher.

Claxton, whose visual riffs on music and entertainment personalities were the picture of cool and who counted Steve McQueen among his friends, also had success in fashion and abstract art. But he was best known for his pictures of jazz musicians, most famously of trumpeter Chet Baker.

“My wife Peggy says photography is jazz for the eye,” Claxton said in an interview for PDN’s January 2006 Legends issue. “I can’t separate the two. They’re so similar. You study, you get the basic framework down, then you improvise based on a plan.”

Claxton forged a 55-year photo career with no formal photographic training. Born in Pasadena, California, he studied psychology at the University of California Los Angeles. He became a fan of jazz and took up photography as a hobby.

Claxton became friends with jazz trumpeter Chet Baker and chronicled Baker’s rising career. A 1952 meeting with record producer Richard Bock led Claxton to take a job as an art director and house photographer for Bock’s label, Pacific Jazz. As America began to recognize jazz music as a form of high art, Claxton was there to document it.

Jeff Dunas, a friend of Claxton’s and director of the Palm Springs Photo Festival, said Claxton’s images showed a personal connection to jazz musicians not seen in other photographers’ work.

“Up until Claxton everybody shot these guys in studios... or you saw dark smoky shots in jazz clubs,” Dunas says. “What you got from Claxton was much more like hanging out with a friend.”

Claxton’s success shooting album art for Pacific Jazz led to editorial work for publications like Life, Vogue and The New York Times. He also landed jobs shooting stills on movie sets, including Love with the Proper Stranger, where he met Steve McQueen. The two became friends, and Claxton would eventually publish a book of McQueen photos. One 1962 shot shows McQueen driving a convertible Jaguar, the background blurred in motion, the star in his element wearing a zip-up jacket, driving gloves and tinted glasses.

Claxton photographed most of the modern jazz greats, including big names like Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole and Miles Davis. He also shot well-known Hollywood stars such as Natalie Wood and Frank Sinatra.

As he explored fashion photography, Claxton collaborated with designer Rudi Gernreich and shot photos of his wife, model Peggy Moffitt.

Claxton served as art director for Motor Trend magazine from from 1977 to 1990.

Claxton took a radical departure in a 2007 exhibit at the Fahey/Klein gallery in Los Angeles. Called “Abstractions,” the show consisted of large, color photographs of crumpled bits of paper.

Claxton’s best-known work remains his 1961 book Jazz Life, shot during a road trip with German musicologist Joachim Berendt and first published in German. In 2005 Taschen reissued the book with new material, ballooning the volume to 700 pages.

In a statement, publisher Benedikt Taschen said, "Bill was very close to my heart and a pillar of our publishing house. He was a great photographer and a wonderful man who touched the lives of his friends through his generosity, charm and kindness."      

Michael Hoppen, whose London gallery represented Claxton in the U.K., recalls Claxton as being unfailingly humble and polite despite his success. “He had tremendous integrity and was a great human being,” Hoppen says.

Claxton is survived by his wife Peggy and his son Chris.

Related sites
William Claxton
William Claxton at Taschen
William Claxton at Fahey/Klein
William Claxton at Demont Photo

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January 2006: Jazz for the Eye
January 24, 2006:Archival Revival: William Claxton On Rescanning His B&W Negs