Among the lexicon of jazz photographer icons, Bob Barry ranks extremely high. Like the notable work of William Gottlieb, William Claxton, K. Abe, Ray Avery, Herman Leonard, Milt Hinton, William Ellis and many others, Bob has proven his ilk as one of the world's most celebrated jazz photo artists.

We are pleased to celebrate his work here at the American Jazz Museum. The latest edition of our Changing Gallery Exhibition, Jazzography - The Performance Portraits of Bob Barry, is a fitting exemplar of Bob's fine work.

With his technique focused primarily on ambient lighting, Bob truly captures the spirit of the music.  When you glance at his photos I believe "what you see is what you hear. "

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Unlike the typical portraiture work of many photo artists, he has an uncanny ability to bring the music to life within the frame of his lens. He meticulously captures the spirit of the music deep within the artist deep in the zone - on and off the stage.

The results he achieves are inextricably linked to his fabulous musicianship as an accomplished guitar player and an astute jazz lover. Blending those skills, along with his keen artistic sense behind the camera, results in what I believe is some of the most magnificent pieces of jazz photo art the world will ever see.