The Legacy of Jay Maisel
Jay Maisel, the photographer who captured the definitive portrait of Miles Davis for the legendary Kind of Blue album, died at age 95. Born in Brooklyn in 1931, Maisel operated for decades as a pillar of American commercial and artistic photography. His death marks the end of a career that spanned editorial work for national magazines and an enduring personal archive of street photography.
Stephen Wilkes, who directed the 2018 documentary Jay Myself, credits his entire career to a single cold call he made to Maisel while he was still a student at Syracuse University. Despite his high profile, Maisel accepted the call and eventually hired Wilkes as an associate. This relationship lasted 50 years. It serves as a reminder of the accessibility Maisel maintained throughout his life, despite his stature in the industry.
A Painter’s Approach to Photography
Maisel’s visual style stemmed from his formal education in painting and graphic design at Cooper Union and his studies under Josef Albers at Yale. He treated the camera frame as a canvas, focusing on color theory, contrast, and structural composition. Rather than chasing high-drama events, he found artistic value in the mundane. A puddle, a fire escape, or a pedestrian crossing often served as the focus of his most studied works.
His 1959 portrait of Miles Davis remains perhaps his most significant contribution to visual culture. The deep blue tones and the singular beam of light on the trumpet defined the aesthetic of the best-selling jazz record in history. Beyond this, he produced five covers for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and captured the inaugural covers of New York Magazine. His technical precision allowed him to bridge the gap between commercial demand and authentic artistic expression.
Open Doors and Mentorship
For many years, Maisel lived and worked in a six-storey former bank building on the Bowery. This space functioned as both a studio and a repository for his massive collection of objects. He kept the doors open to students and fellow photographers, creating an environment that prioritized the exchange of ideas over professional secrecy. When he sold the property in 2015 for $55 million, the move prompted the production of the documentary that chronicled his life and his vast collection.
The International Center of Photography and the American Society of Media Photographers recognized his contributions with lifetime achievement awards. However, his influence persists primarily through the students who attended his workshops. He spent his later years teaching the same principles of light and color that defined his early work. The loss of Maisel is not just the loss of a technician, but the loss of a rare mentor who viewed the sharing of knowledge as a core part of his profession. Future generations of photographers will likely continue to look to his archives to understand how to turn ordinary scenes into enduring images.