Portrait example I'm fond of

This is a portrait of jazz musician John Coltrane taken by Jim Marshall in 1960. I think this picture is a great example of a straightforward portrait. I like the expression on his face. I think it reflects the level of sophistication that was reflected in his music. I love the texture on his fingers. The framing is great and the soft light hitting his face works well. Honestly, for 1960 technology this photo looks pretty impressive to me. It was shot with a Leica M2.

Jim Marshall is an interesting guy and I highly regard him as a photojournalist. He's responsible for most of the iconic images from music in the 1960s and '70s. One skill that he definitely had was a way to establish rapport and get people to like him. The result was that he gained more access to musicians and concerts than anyone else at the time. He took a very famous photo of The Beatles at the last concert they played. He was the only one allowed access with a camera at the concert. He got in the dressing room with them and everything. I think having this personality and skill set to establish rapport and likability plays a huge part in any photojournalist's success.

Another impressive thing about Marshall is that out of all the photos he took over the years, he only cropped two. He was a firm believer of cropping in the camera.

This picture of John Coltrane was one of his first portraits of a famous musician he had taken. He get the opportunity to shoot him simply because Coltrane asked him for directions to a man's house, so Marshall offered to drive him there if Coltrane would agree to let him take a few photos of him once they got there.

Once this portrait of Coltrane was published, the doors opened for him to shoot other famous jazz musicians such as Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. From there, things just took off and he became the number one music photographer at the time.

Here's a link to his official site with his images and bio info, etc.
http://jimmarshallphotographyllc.com/