Rebirth of the cool.
Freelance photographer Robert Campbell captured jazz in bloom. As a young man in New York City in the ’50s and ’60s, Campbell photographed legends in the making, including iconic images of John Coltrane, Chuck Berry, Art Blakey, and the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Saddled with debt and suffering from mental illness, Campbell retreated from public view with his entire life’s work in tow. He spent the rest of his life in Burlington, Vermont living in obscurity — his images largely forgotten — until his death in 2001.
Photographer Jessica Ferber is trying to write a new ending to this sad tale. Having come across Campbell’s astonishing archive nearly a decade ago, Ferber has spent years working to bring his images into the public eye. She recently launched a Kickstarter project to fund the publication of a complete retrospective — marking the first public presentation of Campbell’s work since it was created half a century ago.
