East Meadow Resident Displays Famous Jazz Photos

Anthony Barboza of East Meadow has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a photographer, painter and writer, but a stretch of about 10 years when he shot some now-famous photos of American Jazz greats has earned him considerable attention.

Some of his works are on display this month at the . The acclaimed artist/photographer appeared Sunday to discuss a collection of 27 prints that features greats like Miles Davis and Betty Carter.

Barboza said he was a musician who often went to jazz clubs. Over time he got to know many of the performers, and through that affiliation he was able to photograph them – either portraits or behind the scenes shots at famous jazz clubs in Greenwich Village, many of which no longer exist.

“They used to allow me backstage,” he said. “One of the interesting things is before they went on stage they would often hold hands and pray together.” The photos covered mostly a 10-year period from the late 1970s to late 1980s.

Barboza’s work is featured in galleries and private collections all over the world. An archive of his photography is being created at Cornell University. In addition, his work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Harlem Studio Museum and other museums around the world.

Barboza said no one photo stood out. “It was the experience that made it special,” he said.

He photographed Miles Davis numerous times, including one time for a cover shot for the New York Times Sunday Magazine.  

Barboza, who was born in New Bedford, MA, moved to New York City to begin studying photography in earnest. At first, Barboza studied photography at night, while maintaining a day job as a messenger for the Hearst magazine group. After a short while he met Hugh Bell, a well-known fashion photographer. Bell agreed to act as a mentor to Barboza, teaching him the subtleties of the fashion photography trade. Barboza was soon able to quit his job with Hearst and devote all of his energies to photography.

In 1980 he received a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, which enabled him to self-publish Black Borders, a book of 30 portraits taken during the previous five years. The Introspect show at the Studio Museum in Harlem opened in November of 1982. It featured three galleries of Barboza photographs, taken over a 20-year span. Although he is best known for his advertising and fashion photography, Barboza is also a skilled painter and writer. Among his other callings is that of photography historian. He has an extensive collection of early works by pioneering black photographers. This diversity of interests is reflected in Barboza's own photography, which makes use of a wide variety of techniques and subject matter.

Barboza has photographed for Life, Ebony, The National Geographic, Vanity Fair and The New York Times Sunday Magazine but it is his photos of jazz greats – mostly taken at clubs in Manhattan – that drew fans to the display on Sunday.

He has moved on to other projects these days, saying, “I don’t want to do the same thing. I like to change things up.”

His work will be on display at the EMPL throughout this month. The library's hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.