Walter Iooss Jr.

Walter Iooss Jr.

Widely considered the world’s most influential sports photographer and dubbed the Rembrandt of sports photography due to his use of light, shadow, color, and composition, Walter Iooss Jr.’s images transcend the fame of his subjects and have come to represent modern sports culture.

But the secret to his success is a carefully crafted rapport with his subjects. As a result, his work has forever changed the definition of what a great sports photograph should be. His works transcend mere representationalism due to their high artistic value—they are independent artistic creations with a high degree of aesthetics and compositional complexity. By doing so, Iooss has created several iconic artworks.

Born to a family of sports fans in Texas in 1943, Iooss discovered photography at age 15 when his father gave him a camera. Within a year, he had begun photographing professional football games. At just 17, he got his first assignment for Sports Illustrated. By 20, he was shooting the magazine’s covers. Iooss’s images have appeared on
over 300 covers of Sports Illustrated — more than any other photographer in the world.

In a career spanning more than 60 years, he has worked with almost every athlete at the top of their game, including Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Pelé, Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, Kelly Slater, and Kobe Bryant.

Iooss has photographed every single one of the first 52 Super Bowls; published a book on the 18 months he spent following U.S. athletes as they prepared for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles called Shooting for the Gold and created a New York Times bestselling photo book, Rare Air, with Michael Jordan.

In 2018, Iooss was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame.

Museum Exhibitions

2009
Athlete, Newseum, Washington, D.C.

2015
Open Air, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL 2017 Who Shot Sports, Brooklyn Museum, New York

2019  
Legends: The Sports Photography of Walter Iooss, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT

2020
City/Game: Basketball in New York, Museum of The City of New York, New York, NY

2024
The Making of an Icon: Walter Iooss & Sports Photography, Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT

2024
G.O.A.T.: The Sports Photography of Walter Iooss, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA

Collections

National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C.

Selected important corporate, private, and celebrity art collections

Awards & Honors

2004
The Lucie Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award

2018
Inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame

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