"Portraits from the Golden Age of Jazz" at the Cannon Gallery
by Marilyn Mitchell
"Portraits from the Golden Age of Jazz" opened at the Cannon Art Gallery in Carlsbad this past Saturday along with a talk by Dirk Sutro. The collection includes 71 black & white photographs by William Gottlieb and contemporary color photographs of local jazz musicians. Although jazz enthusiasts may be the most appreciative audience for this show, the Gottlieb's images are sufficiently distinctive to make them pleasurable viewing for anyone.
Dirk Sutro's talk gave us some inside information about William Gottlieb. He was a journalist and he took up photography to enhance his writing. Despite the fact that he is not a 'fine art' photographer, his compositions and ability to capture an authentic emotion from his subjects sets his photos apart. Try this challenge - view the black & white photos and then the contemporary color photos and decide which ones you think have greater urgency or a sense of reality. In my opinion, the black & white ones are far superior to the contemporary ones. It appears that Gottlieb had greater access to his subjects and was comfortable showing us an intimate side of these musicians.
If you are not a jazz enthusiast, you still will be able to marvel at the dignity these early innovators exhibit. Gottlieb's emphasis on 'telling a story' comes through visually and we feel charmed by Armstrong's smile or
captivated by Holiday's graceful yet powerful singing. I cannot help but be amazed that the true individualists of that era still wore suits and dressed elegantly. The clothing of those times created an aura of competency, regardless of what the person was doing.
The show is up until August 29th and there are some other events planned, including jazz era films such as "Lady Sings the Blues". Information is available at www.carlsbadca.gov/arts.