Ted Williams first heard jazz on the radio as a youngster in the 1930s in Wichita, Kansas. The sounds of Earl Hines, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway broadcast from Chicago's legendary Grand Terrace Ballroom inspired him. In the late 1940s, Williams merged his love of music and photography and moved to Chicago where he captured unguarded photographic studies of some of the era's greatest jazz musicians.
Williams’s work appeared in major international publications, including Time, Newsweek, Look, Playboy and Ebony. His coverage of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival landed him a spectacular 21-page layout in DownBeat magazine. Williams was active on the jazz scene from the late 1940s until the late 1970s. He photographed many of the greats in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong.
Williams’s historic archive runs to more than 100,000 images and comprises perhaps the most intimate and complete collection of jazz’s greatest musicians at work, rest and play.
Find original Ted Williams photography on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by International Fine Arts Consortium – IFAC Arts)
Ted Williams - The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Chicago, 1961, Printed After
By Ted Williams
Located in Greenwich, CT
Estate-stamped, gelatin-print silver The Dave Brubeck Quartet At Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, Chicago, April 1961 Available sizes: 16”x20" Edition of 25 20”x24" Edition of 2...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams-Johnny Frigo, Lurlean Hunter and Johnny Griffin 1960, Printed After
By Ted Williams
Located in Greenwich, CT
Title: Johnny Frigo, Lurlean Hunter and Johnny Griffin Estate-stamped, gelatin-print silver Left to Right: Johnny Frigo, Lurlean Hunter and Johnny Griffin on the corner of Michigan ...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams - Dizzy Gillespie DownBeat Magazine, 1960, Printed After
By Ted Williams
Located in Greenwich, CT
Estate-stamped, gelatin-print silver Dizzy Gillespie. Outtake from a cover shoot for DownBeat magazine, June 23, 1960 Available sizes: 16”x20" Edition of 25 20”x24" Edition of 25 ...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams - Charles Mingus Rhode Island, Photography 1959, Printed After
By Ted Williams
Located in Greenwich, CT
Estate-stamped, gelatin-print silver Charles Mingus On-stage at the Newport Jazz Festival, Rhode Island, 1959 Available sizes: 20”x16" Edition of 25 24”x20" Edition of 25 40”x30" ...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams - Louis Armstrong, Photography 1962, Printed After
By Ted Williams
Located in Greenwich, CT
Estate-stamped, gelatin-print silver Louis Armstrong At the University of Chicago Theater in the Round, IL Available sizes: 16”x20" Edition of 25 20”x24" Edition of 25 30”x40" Edi...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams - Miles Davis Dressing Room, Photography 1960, Printed After
By Ted Williams
Located in Greenwich, CT
Estate-stamped, gelatin-print silver American jazz musician, bandleader and composer Miles Davis playing the trumpet in a dressing room before a performance. Available sizes: 20”x...
Silver Gelatin
Miles Davis (Ted Williams - Black and White Photography)
By Ted Williams
Located in London, GB
Miles Davis (Ted Williams - Black and White Photography) Silver Gelatin Print 16x20: £1,200 20x24: £2,640 30x40: £3,960 40x60: £7,500 Estate-stamped and numbered on reverse. Edit...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams 'Cannonball Adderley at the Blue Note'
By Ted Williams
Located in New York, NY
Ted Williams "Cannonball" Adderley at the Blue Note 1960 (printed later) Silver gelatin print 30 x 30 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition 25 with certificate of authenticity ...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams 'John Coltrane playing the saxophone'
By Ted Williams
Located in New York, NY
Ted Williams John Coltrane playing the saxophone 1960 (printed later) Silver gelatin print 30 x 30 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition 25 with certificate of authenticity Ca...
Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams 'Johnny Frigo, Lurlean Hunter & Johnny Griffin'
By Ted Williams
Located in New York, NY
Ted Williams Johnny Frigo, Lurlean Hunter & Johnny Griffin for Downbeat Magazine 1960 (printed later) Silver gelatin print 30 x 30 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition 25 with...
Silver Gelatin
Black and White Jazz Musicians Photograph, Silver Gelatin Print, 1990
By Roberta Fineberg
Located in New york, NY
Drawn to street photography for her early work, Roberta Fineberg shot black-and-white film with a held-held 35mm camera in natural lighting in New York, Paris, and Moscow. Jazz City, New York, 1990 by Roberta Fineberg is a 10" x 8" black-and-white photograph of musicians...
Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin
Ted Williams 'Duke Ellington'
By Ted Williams
Located in New York, NY
Ted Williams Duke Ellington 1960 (printed later) Silver gelatin print 40 x 60 inches Estate stamped and numbered edition 25 with certificate of authent...
Silver Gelatin
