1950
Ted Williams first heard jazz on the radio as a youngster in the 1930s in Wichita, Kansas. The sounds of Earl Hines, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway broadcast from Chicago's legendary Grand Terrace Ballroom inspired him. In the late 1940s, Williams merged his love of music and photography and moved to Chicago where he captured unguarded photographic studies of some of the era's greatest jazz musicians.
Williams’s work appeared in major international publications, including Time, Newsweek, Look, Playboy and Ebony. His coverage of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival landed him a spectacular 21-page layout in DownBeat magazine. Williams was active on the jazz scene from the late 1940s until the late 1970s. He photographed many of the greats in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong.
Williams’s historic archive runs to more than 100,000 images and comprises perhaps the most intimate and complete collection of jazz’s greatest musicians at work, rest and play.
Find original Ted Williams photography on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by International Fine Arts Consortium – IFAC Arts)
Ted Williams 'Billie Holliday'
By Ted Williams
Located in New York, NY
Ted Williams Billie Holiday 1948 (printed later) Silver gelatin print 30 x 40 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition 25 with certificate of authenticity Billie Holiday on-stage...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams 'Sarah Vaughan'
By Ted Williams
Located in New York, NY
Ted Williams Sarah Vaughan 1948 (printed later) Silver gelatin print 40 x 60 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition 25 with certificate of authentic...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams 'Louis Armstrong'
By Ted Williams
Located in New York, NY
Ted Williams Louis Armstrong 1962 (printed later) Silver gelatin print 20 x 24 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition 25 with certificate of authenticity Louis Armstrong on-sta...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams 'Louis Armstrong'
By Ted Williams
Located in New York, NY
Ted Williams Louis Armstrong 1962 (printed later) Silver gelatin print 40 x 60 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition 25 with certificate of authenticity Louis Armstrong on-sta...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams 'Duke Ellington'
By Ted Williams
Located in New York, NY
Ted Williams Duke Ellington 1960 (printed later) Silver gelatin print 40 x 60 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition 25 with certificate of authenticity Duke Ellington on stage...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams 'Duke Ellington'
By Ted Williams
Located in New York, NY
Ted Williams Duke Ellington 1960 (printed later) Silver gelatin print 40 x 60 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition 25 with certificate of authent...
Silver Gelatin
Billie Holiday on Stage - Oversize Limited Print
By Globe Photo Archives
Located in London, GB
Billie Holiday on Stage by Globe Photo Archives This color action shot features American jazz musician and singer-songwriter, Billie Holiday. Wi...
Archival Pigment
Billie Holiday, New York City
By Don Hunstein
Located in Santa Monica, CA
signed by artist
Silver Gelatin
Lady Day
By Jerry Meyer
Located in New York, NY
Artwork of an accomplished artist Jerry Meyer.
Mixed Media
Billie Holiday, NYC, 1955
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Signed, titled, dated and numbered in ink on recto Gelatin Silver Print Paper - 11"x14", Matted - 16"x20
Silver Gelatin
Harlem Rose, Billie Holiday
Located in Toronto, ON
40" x 30" Unframed Limited Edition Giclee on Canvas of 99 Hand Signed by Justin Bua 2009 "Harlem Rose is a throwback tribute painting to all the great female jazz vocalists from Bil...
Canvas, Giclée
Lamu Jazz-Signed limited edition still life print, Black white, Singer Music
By Ian Sanderson
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Lamu Jazz - Signed limited edition archival pigment print, Edition of 5 This image was captured on film. The negative was scanned creating a digital file which was then printed...
Archival Paper, Black and White, Archival Pigment, Photographic Film, Pi...
