Bill Jay, RIP

[bmattock]

http://nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2009/05/jay.html

Photographer, Author, Bill Jay, 69

COSTA RICA (May 14, 2009) – Photographer, professor, and popular author Bill Jay, 69, founder of the program of photographic studies at Arizona State University, died Sunday in Samara, Costa Rica, where he lived in retirement, according to friends.

Born in London in 1940, Jay was the author of more than 20 books and 400 articles on the history and criticism of photography. His book "Photographers Photographed" is a selection of the thousands of portraits Jay took of photographers and those in the photographic industry. The pictures, along with his archives, are housed at the Center of Creative Photography. He also co-authored the popular book "On Being A Photographer" with his friend, David Hurn.

Beginning in England, Jay was the first director of photography at the Institute for Contemporary Arts, and he was the first editor and director of Creative Camera magazine. In 1970 he founded Album magazine.

After coming to the States in 1972, Jay taught history and criticism classes for 25 years at Arizona State following studies at the University of New Mexico. He was a regular contributing columnist for Lenswork magazine, and Jay had lived in Mission Beach, CA, after retiring from ASU before he moved to Costa Rica.

 

[Jodorowsky]

That's sad news. 'On Being a Photographer' is one of my favourite books.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

Sad News

Sad News

Jay was a contributor to Lenswork -- his contrarian essays and squibs were always a pleasure to read. What a pity that he's gone.

Ben Marks

 

[Russ]

yes, sad. I very much enjoyed his books, and on one occasion spoke with him for awhile. Real good guy.

Russ

 

[kbg32]

69? Young. He was one of my favorite writers. RIP.

 

[35mmdelux]

I have family in Samara, a small town on the beach. A very beautiful vacation place. The beach downstream is named Playas de Carrillo, named for my family. RIP Bill.

 

[wlewisiii]

Sad news, but I thank you for sharing it, Bill. I, too, have learned much from "On Being A Photographer" and appreciated what he did with Lensworks.

William

 

[amateriat]

Thanks for this, Bill. Very, very sad to hear. Never got to his books (I'll obviously correct that), but read and enjoyed his articles. Left the planet too early...


- Barrett

 

[Ken Shipman]

Wow. I've enjoyed his EndNotes at the end of every LensWork. I'll miss his wit and perspective.

 

[OurManInTangier]

'On Being A Photographer' helped me get out of a rut and start to really focus on and plan what I'm doing. I've never seen any of his journals or magazine articles but should try to track some down.

 

[mickallen]

That's really sad his book with David Hurn 'On Being A Photographer' is superb, really inspirational.

His articles and essays at http://www.billjayonphotography.com/index.html are also very insightful.

 

[dcsang]

This is too bad - I'm sure Lenswork will miss him - I personally enjoyed much of his writing and I too have a copy of "On Being A Photographer" - he'll be missed.

Dave

 

[pesphoto]

I enjoyed his writing very much. Also, his portrait of photographers on his website.
Here is a link to the Lenswork tribute.
http://www.lenswork.com/index.html

 

[John Rountree]

I will add my sadness at his passing. On Being A Photographer is my standard txt for Documentary class. I will tell my class tomorrow.