William James Claxton (October 12, 1927 – October 11, 2008) was an American photographer and author.

Biography

Born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, Claxton's works included a book of photographs of

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 ...

, and ''Jazzlife'', a book of photographs depicting

jazz 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 ...

artists in the 1960s. He was best known for his photography of jazz musicians including

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

. Claxton also photographed celebrities and models. In 1967, he created the film ''Basic Black'', a work that is credited as the first "fashion video" and is in the collection of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York. The music for the film, using a

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

, was composed by award-winning artist David Lucas. He married model

Peggy Moffitt Margaret Anne "Peggy" Moffitt (born May 14, 1940) is a former American Fashion model, model and actress. During the 1960s, she worked very closely with fashion designer Rudi Gernreich, and developed a signature style that featured heavy makeup an ...

in 1960 and had one son, Christopher M. Claxton, born in 1973. Claxton died on October 11, 2008, of complications from

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

, one day before his 81st birthday.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Garrett White ''William Claxton- Photographic Memory''
1927 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American photographers Artists from Pasadena, California Fashion photographers Jazz photographers American portrait photographers Writers from Pasadena, California {{US-photographer-stub