Feb 27, 2025 - News

Phoenix exhibition celebrates iconic Hollywood photographer Bill Jones

Jessica Boehm

A man posing in front of magazine covers. — Photographer Bill Jones at the "Hollywood in Black and White Exhibit" at the Hollywood Museum in 2005. Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Phoenix residents can peruse the iconic work of Bill Jones, one of the first Black photographers to break into the Hollywood celebrity beat, at a special exhibition on Friday.

Why it matters: Jones, who taught himself how to use a camera while serving as a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s and carved out a photography career by focusing on Black celebrities who the white media often ignored, The New York Times wrote after he died in 2016.

His subjects included Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Quincy Jones and Sidney Poitier.

What they're saying: "Being the only Black photographer, other black actors and actresses would come to me and let me take whatever pictures I wanted," he told The Mansfield News Journal of Ohio in 2006.

State of play: Jones' granddaughter, who lives in the Valley, inherited 100,000 of his negatives, The Glow-Frame Initiative executive director Irin Daniels told Axios.

Daniels' nonprofit, which works to increase diversity in the film and AV industries, is hosting an exhibition of Jones' work via interactive LED displays at the Arizona Center from 3-9pm on Friday.

Zoom in: The display will include images of Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Halle Berry, Spike Lee, Nelson Mandela and many others.

The bottom line: Daniels told us he's excited to bring attention to Jones, who he called a "hidden figure" who documented an important period of Black entertainment.

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Phoenix exhibition celebrates iconic Hollywood photographer Bill Jones

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