Walter Iooss–4 Decades of Taking “Perfect Photos” (Part 1)
“Someone once said that wherever I am is the perfect picture. I didn’t like the way it sounded but I believe that. It’s not that I’m positive of it deep down inside, it’s that I have to believe it. When you make that decision – ‘This is the place to go’ – you’ve got to live with it. There’s no alternative.”
That’s what Walter Iooss said when he was asked about his long, successful career. And true enough, the perfect shot always seem to follow Walter, wherever he may be—the fact that more than 300 of his shots were used as covers for Sports Illustrated magazines is more than enough proof.
Decades ago, when Walter was a teen, he couldn’t imagine life beyond the playground games he used to play–not knowing that someday he will photograph kids who also can’t (or simply don’t) imagine life beyond the street games they play.
Walter was born in Temple, Texas, but moved to East Orange, New Jersey, when he was five. He got his first photography assignment way back in 1959—when most of Sports Illustrated’s current readers aren’t even born yet. He was assigned to go to Groton, Connecticut, to photograph a sailor in his 80s, Arthur Chester—a man who built a boat without plans. Walter’s shot made the back page of the magazine.
Even back then, Walter’s talent was already apparent. And as time passed by, his expertise evolved into three different niches: action photography, swimsuit photography, and finally, sports photography.
Walters’ work focuses more on the raw aspect of a photo (the subjects’ emotions, what these subjects are doing, etc.) rather than the aesthetic hoopla (sharpness, contrast, etc.). One of his most notable photoshoots was when he photographed Cuban kids playing in the streets, where he successfully captured the innocent but intense concentration of the children, who all only cared about the game.
A Cuban boy playing baseball on the streets
“The real joy of photography is these moments,” Iooss says. “I’m always looking for freedom, the search for the one-on-one. That’s when your instincts come out. I’ve been lucky enough to have people hire me to do that. Sports Illustrated never really restricts me. They want me to do what I do. It’s the discovery. It’s still magic.”
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[...] Iooss in BlinqI picked the early nineties to really dive into baseball cards. You know, the biggest explosion of overproduction in the hobby’s long history? Nothing from those days is worth anything monetarily, but I have a lot of great memories of collecting, from mammoth card shows to card shops on every other block to stopping at every K-Mart on road trips. I didn’t own a camera at the time, and never dreamed I’d become interested in photography, but the allure of sports cards is all about that timely image on the front, sometimes capturing some amazing moment or an iconic visage in a timeless photo. The ninety-three Upper Deck set featured an insert set of cards of special images by Walter Iooss, Jr., and that was my introduction to the name. Knowing the photographer for the image in the card was unheard of in the hobby, but for this small set of twenty-seven cards, I could see why. His imagery was a cut above. It wasn’t the best card in the set, but I keep his beat-up portrait (seen above) of Phillies great Darren Daulton handy to this day.Iooss made his name in sports, principally for Sports Illustrated, but he’s done more. Here’s a small, but must-see gallery of his work for SI — complete with commentary from the man. (I love the shot of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in sixty-seven. Dig the cigarettes on the table! And yes, he got to shoot some swimsuit models along the way. He’s even photographed Hendrix! And he’s still going strong today at age sixty-six.Walter Iooss, Jr. is going to be featured at the Annenberg Space for Photography next month along with Neil Leifer. I’ll be there. I also want to check out his book of Classic Baseball Photographs sometime. [...]