Art Kane

Art Kane was an American fashion and music photographer who worked from the 1950s to the early 1990s. He created many portraits of contemporary musicians, including Bob Dylan, Sonny and Cher, Aretha Franklin, Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones, and The Who.

Kane was the son of Russian Jewish parents. He was a member of the Ghost Army, an Army deception unit that provided an opportunity for young artists. He was 26 years old when he became the editor of Seventeen magazine. This was his first job as an art director of a major publication. He discovered his passion for photography and eventually studied under Alexey Brodovitch. In 1958, he got an assignment that would launch his career as a photographer, when he assembled 57 jazz musicians for Esquire magazine in 1958 in Harlem. Eventually, the Esquire photograph would become the basis for a documentary, A Great Day in Harlem.

His provocative, experimental and playful work was sometimes rejected by magazines because of its irreverence or nudity. Kane said of his portraiture: “You have to own people…grab them, twist them into what you want to say about them.” He was quoted in the book The Nikon Image as saying: “I’ve always considered myself an illustrator, a literate photographer interested in producing images that reflect the essence of an idea…I wanted to interpret the human scene rather than simply record it.”

Art Kane is credited by the book Stainless Steel Illusion with John DeLorean’s photograph of him in his DeLorean sportscar. This was the basis for the DeLorean Motor Company’s only magazine advertisement. The Art Kane Photo Workshops were established in Cape May, New Jersey, in 1989. They were week-long workshops with notable photographers.

Kane, now 69, took his own life in 1995. The drummer Jonathan Kane is his son.

Art Kane (born Arthur Kanofsky; April 9, 1925 – February 3, 1995) was an American fashion and music photographer active from the 1950s through the early 1990s. Many portraits were created by him of current musicians such as Bob Dylan, Sonny and Cher and Janis Joplin, Frank Zappa and Jim Morrison.

Kane was the son of Russian Jewish parents. During the Second World War, he served in an unusual Army deception unit known as the Ghost Army, an incubator for many young artists. He was 26 years old when he became the editor of Seventeen magazine. This magazine is one of the most important art directors in the world. He discovered his passion for photography and eventually studied under Alexey Brodovitch. He was given a task in 1958 that would help him launch his career as photographer. He gathered 57 jazz musicians to create Esquire magazine, which was published in Harlem in 1958. Eventually, the Esquire photograph would become the basis for a documentary, A Great Day in Harlem.

His provocative, experimental and playful work was sometimes rejected by magazines because of its irreverence or nudity. Kane said of his portraiture: “You have to own people…grab them, twist them into what you want to say about them.” In the book The Nikon Image, Kane was quoted as saying that he considered himself an illustrator and a literate photographer who is interested in creating images that capture the essence of an idea… I wanted to interpret the human scene instead of simply recording it.

Art Kane is credited in the book Stainless Steel Illusion for the photograph of John DeLorean with the DeLorean sports car that was the basis for the only magazine advertisement ever created by DeLorean Motor Company. In 1989, the Art Kane Photo Workshops were created in Cape May, New Jersey. These were workshops that lasted for a week with renowned photographers.

In 1995, Kane, 69, committed suicide. His son is the drummer Jonathan Kane.

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