Suzanne Driscoll

“I really do not consider myself to be a storyteller,” Jay Maisel says. “Pictures are basically anecdotal anyway.” In his studio full of artifacts and mounted photos from his travels around the world, Maisel is happy to reflect on his 63 years of personal and commercial photography work.

Max Vadukul has come a long way since growing up in Africa. Known for his creative black-and-white portraits and innovative fashion photography, he was born in Nairobi, Kenya, to Indian parents in 1961. “The Sixties were the golden years for the National Geographic,” Vadukul recalls. “They were spending a lot of money to educate the public and the photographers were the best of the lot.”

Actor Richard Gere is best known for his roles in over 40 films, but few may be aware he is also an avid photographer and collector. Taking pictures on his many trips to India was always more of a personal project, until photography book and exhibition designer Elizabeth Avedon happened to notice a 3-foot stack of beautiful 8x10 photos in his loft. “A lot of these photographs I didn’t show anyone because it was such a private experience for me,” Gere recalls. “I had no interest in sharing them.” Fortunately, Avedon was able to convince him they needed to be seen, and these and other photos have been exhibited around the world and published in his book, Pilgrim.

Legendary celebrity photographer Terry O’Neill always wanted to be a jazz drummer. When he was 10 he made his own drum kit from cookie tins, and by the time he was 14 had quit school and was playing in jazz clubs with a local band. After a stint in the army, O’Neill thought he might get the chance to travel to the U.S. to play in clubs there if he worked as an airline steward. So he applied to what now is British Airways and was very surprised to be handed an Agfa Silette camera and told to take pictures of people around Heathrow airport.