Walter Iooss
Walter Iooss Jr. (born September 15, 1943) is an American photographer noted for his images of athletes, including Michael Jordan, Kelly Slater, Tiger Woods, Scottie Pippen, and Muhammad Ali. He has been called "the poet laureate of sports." Iooss began his career shooting for Sports Illustrated and contributed to the magazine for more than 50 years.
Also recorded as Walter Iooss, Jr. · Walter, Jr. Iooss
Walter Iooss
- Name
- Walter Iooss Jr.
- Born
- 15 September 1943
- Birthplace
- Temple, Texas
- Occupation
- Photographer
- Spouse
- Eva Iooss
- Nationality
- United States
- Honours
- Lucie Award
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Documentary summary
Walter Iooss Jr. (born September 15, 1943) is an American photographer noted for his images of athletes, including Michael Jordan, Kelly Slater, Tiger Woods, Scottie Pippen, and Muhammad Ali. He has been called "the poet laureate of sports." Iooss began his career shooting for Sports Illustrated and contributed to the magazine for more than 50 years.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q7965212 · wikipedia · Walter Iooss
In this article
Biography
Biography
He also photographed for the magazine's Swimsuit Issue for 40 years. Bruce Silverstein Gallery exclusively represents Iooss' fine art photography.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Walter Iooss Jr. • Born — 15 September 1943 • Birthplace — Temple, Texas • Occupation — Photographer • Years Active — 1968–present • Spouse — Eva Iooss • Children — 2
Birth and early life
Birth and early life
Born in Temple, Texas, Walter Iooss moved at the age of five from Temple to East Orange, New Jersey. In 1959, at the age of 16, he shot his first roll of film at a professional football game with a camera his father bought him. The following year he attended the German School of Photography in New York City during the summer. One year later, at the age of 17 years, Walter got his first assignment from Sports Illustrated—-the same year he graduated from East Orange High School. Two years later he shot his first cover for Sports Illustrated, but five more years would bring about a change of pace for Walter. Contrary to the sports images that he had been shooting, he then became an in-house photographer for Atlantic Records. In 2004 he was awarded with the LUCIE Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports Photography.
Career 1968–
Career 1968–
From 1968 through 1972, Iooss was an in-house photographer for Atlantic Records in New York, where his subjects included performers like James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. In 1982, Iooss was recruited by Fujifilm to work on an extended study of athletes who were working their way to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The two-and-a-half-year project required him to leave his position on the staff of Sports Illustrated (though he continued to contribute) and resulted in the publication of the book Shooting for the Gold. In the late 1980s, Iooss was commissioned to photograph advertising campaigns for Camel cigarettes. In 1993, Iooss' work was featured on 27 baseball cards in an Upper Deck set dubbed "The Iooss Collection." Though he has worked with athletes and models, Iooss has also photographed Cuban children playing ball in the street and captured the raw desire of Thai kickboxers. According to Iooss, "The real joy of photography is these moments. I'm always looking for freedom, the search for the one-on-one. That's when your instincts come out."
Personal
Personal
Iooss is married to Eva Iooss, with whom he has two sons, Christian and Bjorn.
Identity
Identity
Walter Iooss is recorded as photographer, photojournalist and journalist.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1943
Walter Iooss born at Temple.
Recognition and collections
Where the work is held
Recognition and collections
Walter Iooss received Lucie Award. Carlos Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum and Bryn Mawr College Special Collections.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Walter Iooss”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7965212: Walter Iooss
General reference · Wikidata
Awards and nominations
• 2004: Lucie award for Outstanding Achievement in Sports Photography.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Meyers, John A. "Letter from the Publisher," Sports Illustrated, January 3, 1977. Retrieved November 16, 2020
- 2.Athlete: The Sports Illustrated Photography of Walter Iooss. Newseum.
- 3.The Education of Walter Iooss Jr. Sports Illustrated.
- 4.The Luckiest Photographer on Earth. Vanity Fair.
- 5.Kinno, Kohjiro. Where Legends Still Play The Golfer's Journal. The Golfer’s Journal.
- 6.Shooting for the Gold. People. 9 April 1984.
- 7.Wax Heaven. When Upper Deck Ruled The Hobby.
- 8.Children of Cuba, 1999
- 9.Kickboxers in Bangkok, Thailand, 1995.
- 10.2004 Honorees
Bibliography printed in the source article · 6
- Heaven, Sports Illustrated, 2010
- Athlete, Sports Illustrated, 2008
- Walter Iooss: A Lifetime Shooting Sports & Beauty, Watson-Guptill, 1999
- Hoops: Four Decades of the Pro Game, Harry N. Abrams Inc., 2005
- Rare Air: Michael on Michael, Collins, 1993
- Drumm, Russell (1999). Still Magic. Walter Iooss: A Lifetime Shooting Sports & Beauty. Graphis Press. .
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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