Terry Cryer (24 June 1934 – 15 January 2017) was a British jazz and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

photographer. Described by '' Mojo'' as "The Dean of UK jazz and blues photographers",Terry Cryer Official Website
/ref> Cryer is best known for portraits of some of the genre's most renowned performers.

Early career

Cryer was born in Leeds, United Kingdom, to Richard and Florence Cryer and grew up in an impoverished household, which his mother left when he was a year old; at the same age he fell down some stairs, fracturing his skull and contracting spinal meningitis. At the age of fourteen Cryer worked for a film processing company called Cardigan D&P, mixing chemicals at 100 gallons a time. It was this experience that sparked his interest in photography. Three years later he joined the army and was sent by the War Office to take photographs in Egypt;

Val Wilmer Valerie Sybil Wilmer (born 7 December 1941) is a British photographer and writer specialising in jazz, gospel, blues, and British African-Caribbean music and culture. Her notable books include ''Jazz People'' (1970) and ''As Serious As Your Lif ...

later noted, "his first job was producing identity cards for 400 fighting men of the East African Pioneer Corps. Coping with the difficulties of photographing dark faces using techniques designed for white ones stood him in good stead for his future portraits of African Americans." His first camera was a Reid (an imitation

Leica Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, rifle scopes and microscopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869 (Ernst Leitz Wetzlar), in Wetzlar, Germany. ...

), but he saved up his pay and upgraded to a superior twin-lens Rolleiflex camera. Upon his return to Leeds, Cryer found employment at a Butlins holiday camp where he learned the art of speed printing. In his spare time he went door-to-door offering family photos until tuba player Bob Barclay opened his Studio 20 club in Leeds and invited Cryer to photograph the musicians who performed at the venue. In 1956,

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

played at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester – this was the first time Cryer had photographed a high-profile artist from the United States. Cryer then went on to tour with American artists such as Jimmy Rushing and

Eddie Condon Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. Early years Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of J ...

. However, returning from a Big Bill Broonzy gig in Manchester one night, Cryer broke his neck in a car accident. Rushing wrote to him whilst he was recovering in hospital and undeterred by his injury, Cryer was soon back working though still in plaster. Cryer said of the crash: "We had got pissed with Big Bill in the dressing room after the concert and Bob Barclay fell asleep at the wheel, it is not surprising we crashed!"Sandy brown Jazz
/ref>

London, 1957

In 1957, Cryer relocated to London, living on

Lisle Street Lisle may refer to: Music * Lisle (band) People * Baron Lisle * Viscount Lisle ''Lisle'' is a last name of Norman origin. * Lady Alice Lisle (1617–1685), member of the English nobility * Edward Lisle (1692–1753), English landowner and politi ...

opposite trumpeter and band leader Mick Mulligan. He found work as a freelance photographer with ''

Jazz News Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major f ...

'', earning ten shillings for each photograph he took. Cryer later admitted that "I faked myself credentials and I got myself a press card. Was this honest? Who cares. I broke the rules because it was a lot more exciting than following them. The establishment move the goal posts to suit themselves. Why shouldn't I?" Cryer also married his first wife Ann Dear in 1957 while on tour with Chris Barber's Jazz Band. Barber was Best Man,

Sister Rosetta Tharpe Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin, March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was an American singer and guitarist. She gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her Gospel music, gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spir ...

was Matron of Honour and Monty Sunshine, Chief Usher. Sister Rosetta treated the married couple to a night at Liverpool Adelphi as a gift. That night the group visited

The Cavern The Cavern Club is a nightclub on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened in 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 50s and early 1960s. The club became closely asso ...

and the newly married couple spent their honeymoon on tour with the band. It was around this time that Cryer took some of his most iconic photographs. His 1958 portrait of Muddy Waters is now featured on the Mississippi Blues Trail to mark the location of his cabin at the Delta. In addition, Sammy Davis Jr., was so taken with Cryer's picture, captured in 1960, that he used it as his publicity shot throughout the next decade. Upon seeing the picture, he sent Cryer a note reading: ‘Dear Terry, it’s the best! Sammy x’.

Other Work

In 1960, Cryer joined the Associated Press agency and was subsequently assigned to work across the globe, including trips to Moscow. In his autobiography, he recalls finding himself developing film in lavatory pans behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

. On his first trip to Russia in 1961 Cryer took a photograph entitled 'Russian Guards at Red Square'. The image received the '' Encyclopædia Britannica'' Award for Press Feature Picture of The Year 1961.Terry Cryer in Russia
Retrieved 6 March 2012 It was on his second trip that he and his travelling companion were deported from Russia across the Polish border at Brest Litovsk. Cryer also produced candid portraits of personalities outside the jazz world. The photographed include

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

, Peter Sellers,

Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...

and Paul McCartney. The latter explains "I’ve known Terry for many years as a mate and have admired his photographic work for as long as I can remember. Linda and I both respected his talent and his great photographic skills".

One in the Eye

Cryer's autobiography ''One in the Eye'' (written with editor Ian Clayton) was published in 1992. These memoirs are set to be re-published in the UK and USA by Pen & Ink. The book will feature a new introduction, cover treatment and previously unseen images.

Awards, Collections and Points of Interest

*''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Award – Press Feature Picture of The Year 1961 for Russian Guards at Red Square *Six Kodak Printer of the Year Awards – 1980s *Cryer's photographs are held in numerous private and public collections including the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. *His portrait of Muddy Waters is image used on Mississippi Blues Trail to mark Water's Cabin at Clarksdale

Past Exhibition

1984 – Impressions Gallery, York 1990 – Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds Festival 1993 – Special Photographer's Gallery, London 1995 – Salts Mill, Saltaire 1996 – Groucho Club, London 1997 – Focal Point Gallery, Nottingham 1998 – "Art in Yorkshire", Dean Clough 1998 – Brahms Advertising Agency Gallery 1999 – Burnley Blues Festival 2003 – National Museum of Photography, Bradford 2003 – Harvey Nichols, Leeds 2008 – Leeds University School of Music 2008 – "Love You All Madly", Smokestack, Leeds – curated by RedHouse Originals 2008 – "Love You All Madly", 3345 Parr Street, Liverpool – curated by RedHouse Originals 2008–09 – "Blues Anthology", Proud Gallery, London 2010 – "Music to My Eyes", 108 Fine Art, Harrogate – curated by RedHouse Originals 2010 – "The Mr Nice Project", RedHouse Originals, Harrogate 2011 – "Now & Then: Terry Cryer & Richard Fischer”, RedHouse Originals, Harrogate 2011 – “Fleet Street Hooligan”, RedHouse Originals, Harrogate 2011 – "Still Love You All Madly", SCF Hub Gallery, Southport – curated by RedHouse Originals 2011–12 – Harrogate Theatre 2012 – "The Time Is Now", RedHouse Originals, HarrogateYork Press, The Time is Now, Red House Gallery
/ref> In the collection at Henry Ransom Center, University of Texas Permanent displays of Dance Photography at Leeds General Infirmary and Northern School of Contemporary Dance

Portraits

Selected Highlights * Ella Fitzgerald * Muddy Waters * Count Basie *

* Miles Davis * Nat King Cole * Big Bill Broonzy *

* George Lewis * Coleman Hawkins *

Sonny Stitt Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his ...

* Clara Ward *

Paul Gonsalves Paul Gonsalves ( – ) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue ...

* Freddie Green * Johnny Hodges * Joe Newman *

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Along with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a leading figure in the development of modern ...

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...

and Brownie McGhee * Dinah Washington * Marie Knight * Memphis Slim * Jesse Fuller * Ottilie Patterson * Clara Ward * Cozy Cole * Phil Seamen Film, Iconic, Social History etc. *

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

* Richard Burton *

Peter O’Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...

* Dustin Hoffman *

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...

* Ava Gardner * Judy Garland *

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Organ ...

* Yves Saint Laurent * Paul McCartney *

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

* Sammy Davis Jr. * Peter Sellers *

* Vanessa Redgrave * Cliff Richard * The Shadows *

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

* Nikita Khrushchev *

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

* Margaret Thatcher * Howard Marks

External links

Cryer interviewed in September 2014
for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

's ''In Tune''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cryer, Terry 1934 births 2017 deaths Photographers from Yorkshire Jazz photographers People from Leeds