Artist Profile: Walter Iooss
Published January 1, 2017 by Nicole Webb
Walter Iooss Jr.
“My father introduced me to photography... he loved football and baseball, and that was one thing we shared. And then when he bought his camera, he got season tickets to the New York Giants. That’s where I put my first roll of film through and went back to my house in New Jersey and processed it. I unlocked my future somehow that day. I remember standing there by the sink and holding it up, and something magical happened.” – Walter Iooss Jr.
Walter Iooss Jr. is an American photographer best known for his award-winning images of some of the greatest athletes, like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Scottie Pippen, and Muhammad Ali. In 1959, at the age of 16, Ioos shot his first roll of film at a professional football game with a camera his father gave him. By the age of 17, he was a student at the German School of Photography in New York City.
That same year, he got his first assignment with Sports Illustrated, a magazine Iooss has contributed to for over 50 years. Over the years, he has also worked with Atlantic Records to photograph performers like James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. His photographs have appeared in numerous magazines, advertising campaigns, and even baseball cards.
Walter Ioos, Fenway Park, Boston, MA, archival pigment print, 1993, 2020.47.34.
Walter Ioos, Ali Weigh-in, Houston Astrodome, archival pigment print, 1967, 2020.47.41.
Walter Ioos, L.A. Olympics, archival pigment print, 1984, 2020.47.31.