Celebrated Photographer Jay Maisel Dies at 95

Jay Maisel, the influential American photographer who was the subject of the 2018 documentary Jay Myself, has passed away.

Maisel, an acclaimed photographer known for his commercial and editorial photography — particularly his masterful use of colour and light — died at the age of 95. News of his death was shared on social media by photographer Stephen Wilkes, who was Maisel’s mentee.

“My lifelong mentor and dear friend of 50+ years, Jay Maisel, has left us. This is a void that will be impossible to fill,” Wilkes writes in a post on Instagram. “To everyone who was blessed enough to know him, learn from his brilliant teachings, or simply be inspired by his photographs — you know how blessed we were to have him for 95 years. Jay was, without question, the most prolific color photographer of his generation.”

Born in Brooklyn, New York City, Maisel studied painting and graphic design at Cooper Union, Manhattan, before transferring to Yale University. He began his photography career in 1954 and went on to shoot five Sports Illustrated swimsuit covers, as well as the first two covers of New York Magazine.

One of Maisel’s most famous photographs appeared on Miles Davis’ seminal 1959 record Kind of Blue which remains the best-selling jazz album of all time. His moody, blue-drenched portrait of Davis blowing into his trumpet became an indelible image in jazz history, demonstrating how a single frame can capture the exact mood of a sound. However, Maisel was perhaps best known for his photographs of everyday life, which captured light, colour and movement with an extraordinary sense of spontaneity.

In 2018, Maisel became the subject of Jay Myself, a documentary directed by Wilkes that chronicled the photographer’s life and the remarkable home and studio he had occupied for decades. In 1966, Maisel purchased a six-story, 72-room building on the Bowery in Lower Manhattan for $102,000. The building became his home, studio, and repository for the huge collection of objects that inspired his photographic work. Maisel sold the building in February 2015 for $55 million to developer Aby Rosen, in what was reported as the largest private real estate deal in New York City history. Jay Myself followed Maisel as his vast property and studio was emptied following its sale.

Maisel was also a lifelong Nikon photographer and the company paid tribute to him in a Facebook post.

“Today we honor Jay Maisel. A legendary photographer who helped shape the industry for more than six decades and a teacher and mentor to generations of photographers,” Nikon writes. “He will be deeply missed and remembered always.”