Douglas R. Gilbert has been a serious photographer since the age of 14, when he could be found taking pictures of his local Michigan neighborhood and friends. AS a teenager, he would bring his images to the dark room and develop each image until he found the exact color and depth he was looking for.

When he was twenty-one, he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine’s history.  A few years later, he left Look to work as a freelance photographer in Chicago and pursue a graduate degree at the Institute of Design. Upon completion of his degree, he taught at Wheaton College for a decade, and since then, became a licensed therapist while actively pursuing his professional photography. Gilbert later published many photographs in countless national and international publications such as LIFE, The Saturday Evening Post, and Glamour.

Over a career spanning five decades, Gilbert has exhibited his fine art photographs in many galleries and museums. In addition, he has been published in five books and had work included in countless national and international publications such as LIFE, The Saturday Evening Post, and Glamour. Gilbert’s photographs are in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, as well as in many private and institutional collections. In 2018, a comprehensive collection of his life’s work was donated to the Grand Valley State University Art Museum and Lemmen Library & Archives.

Read more about how the Douglas R. Gilbert collection came to GVSU.

Explore the Douglas R. Gilbert Special Collection at the GVSU Lemmen Library & Archives.

Explore more artwork by Douglas R. Gilbert