Bob Willoughby

Bob Willoughby studied at University of Southern California and USC School of Cinematic Arts. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is film photography. Work by Bob Willoughby is recorded in the collections of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Photography Collection. Distinctions recorded are Lucie Award.

Willoughby was born in Los Angeles, California. He pursued photography after receiving a camera as a gift on his 12th birthday. Willoughby studied photography at the film school at the University of Southern California and worked under graphic designer Saul Bass at the Kahn Institute of Art.

Between 1948 and 1954, Willoughby's exhibitions of photographs of jazz musicians and dancers led to a contract with Globe Photos, and one, of a screaming female audience, was selected by Edward Steichen for The Family of Man exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art which toured the world to be seen by 9 million visitors. Later, he worked for Harper's Bazaar magazine where his photographs illustrated arts and culture articles.

Willoughby continued to photograph for the rest of his life. He lived in Ireland for 17 years where he used his photographic skills to illustrate ancient Irish poetry text with photographs of the countryside. In addition, he authored books on photography and other subjects. He lived his last years in Vence, France, where he continued a very active professional life. He died of cancer on 18 December 2009. Willoughby's images are represented by the Motion Picture and Television Photo Archive and can be viewed by the public at mptvimages.com

His photographs are held in collections and exhibited worldwide including: • Museum of Modern Art, New York • The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC and London, England • The National Media Museum, Bradford, UK • The Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, France • Musee de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium