With a camera as his backstage pass, Herman Leonard has photographed the giants of jazz in their golden age, movie stars on sets and on their travels to exotic places, the fashion world of
Paris in the 1960s, and the inner sanctums of his beloved New Orleans.
His friendships with the jazz greats allowed him to capture the magical moments of the New York and Paris jazz clubs in the 1940s and 1950s, using his unique command of cinematic lighting to
capture the essence of time. His colorful life and travels enabled him to document the cultural icons of his day, with images such as Marilyn Monroe on a elephant in the circus, and Albert
Einstein at his desk.
