Jack Mitchell

Jack Mitchell (September 13, 1925 – November 7, 2013) was an American photographer. He photographed American artists, dancers, film and theatre performers, musicians and writers. His portraiture, lighting skill, and ability to capture dancers in what he termed "moving stills" made him one of the most important dance photographers of the 20th century.

He photographed the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for three decades, producing a body of work that includes over ten thousand images. He was the official photographer of the American Ballet Theatre for a decade and also photographed dancers for other top ballet companies in the US and Canada.

His work appeared in major newspapers and on the cover of major magazines, including over 160 covers of Dance Magazine. Arts Magazine called him the first photographer to treat creative individuals as characters outside of their works. Smithsonian called him the benchmark by which other dance photographers assessed their own work.

Early life Mitchell was born in Key West in 1925, and he was raised there and in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where his family moved in 1931. His father worked for the railroad. He was the American Ballet Theatre's official photographer. Ailey's biographer Jennifer Dunning credited Mitchell's work for "help[ing] to sell the company early on". His books include Icons & Idols (1998), for which Edward Albee wrote the foreword, and a book of his Alvin Ailey photography, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1993).

Recognition Arts Magazine credited him as the first photographer to treat entertainers as individuals with "character and identification not expressed exclusively through their works." The New York Times, which published hundreds of his photographs, described him as "both a portraitist and a capturer of complex motion" and as a lighting expert.

Personal life Mitchell retired in 1995 and moved from New York City back to New Smyrna Beach. His partner, Robert Plavik, died in 2009. Mitchell died in 2013 at his home in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Gallery