John Gerald Zimmerman, born 30 October 1927, Pacoima, CA - died 3 August 2002, Monterey, CA, was one of America’s premier magazine photographers. His hallmarks of technical precision and innovation produced groundbreaking photographs and influenced a generation of photographers.

Early Life and Career

Zimmerman was consumed by a fascination for photography from an early age. His father, John L. Zimmerman, a gaffer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, taught him the basics and bought him a 4x5 view camera. John G. joined a photographic hobby club in junior high school and spent afternoons developing film with friends in their mothers’ kitchens.

Zimmerman took an intensive three-year photography course at John C. Fremont High School in Los Angeles, where he was taught by Hollywood cinematographer Clarence Bach.^[1] The course was one of the only vocational programs of its kind in the country and launched the careers of six Life photographers: Mark Kauffman, Bob Landry, John Florea, George Strock, John Dominis and Hank Walker.

After graduating high school, Zimmerman served as a Navy photographer. In 1950, he landed a job as a staff photographer at the Time Magazine bureau in Washington D.C. His first assignment on November 1, 1950 demonstrated his capacity for capturing split-second action - Zimmerman was driving away from the White House with a group of photographers when two Puerto Rican Nationalists stormed nearby Blair House, attempting to assassinate President Truman. Hearing gunshots, the photographers rushed out of the car. Only Zimmerman had a camera around his neck; the others had locked theirs in the trunk. Zimmerman got the first photos of the attack,^[2] which were featured in both Time and Life.

In 1952, Zimmerman moved to Atlanta. During his time there he shot a series of noteworthy assignments for Ebony Magazine depicting the experiences of African Americans in the Jim Crow South and the Midwest.^[3]

By 1954 he had moved to Detroit and was freelancing for Life Magazine. One assignment required him to document Detroit’s old Mariners’ Church being moved to a new location across town. The building’s move was a slow process that took four weeks to complete, yet Zimmerman’s photo gives the effect of the church hurtling through downtown Detroit at top speed.^[4] The use of technology to show on film what the naked eye could never see would become a hallmark of Zimmerman’s work.

Sports Illustrated, 1956-1963

The photographer’s innovative approach caught the eye of Gerald Astor, Picture Editor of the newly founded Sports Illustrated. Astor hired Zimmerman in 1956 as one of the magazine’s first staff photographers. Zimmerman was instrumental in making the magazine a vanguard of innovative sports photography. His use of unique camera placements, electronic lighting techniques, slit cameras, remote controlled cameras, motor-driven camera sequences, and double-shutter designs revolutionized how sports were viewed.^[5] Many of Zimmerman’s camera innovations are commonplace today, but were unheard of at the time.

Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss recalled watching Zimmerman edit photographs of basketball star Wilt Chamberlain in 1961. “It was the first time a photojournalist had placed a camera above the rim of a basket…it was like looking at something from another planet. It had never been done before. No one had seen the game from there.” ^[6]

By the time Zimmerman left Sports Illustrated in 1963, he had assembled a portfolio that showed all the elements of his unique photographic style. He had discovered new ways to portray the inherent grace of his subjects, often stretching and blurring his images to show the athletes in motion.^[7][8] Zimmerman’s many iconic photos from this period include Philadelphia Eagles Chuck Bednarik’s tackle of New York Giants running back Frank Gifford in 1960.^[9][10]

Editorial and Commercial Work, 1964-1991

From 1964 until his retirement in 1991, Zimmerman worked for all the major magazines, covering notable subjects from every aspect of American popular culture. Four of his Time covers are in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery: politician Jerry Brown, baseball great Rod Carew, actress Diane Lane and Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill ^{[11][12][13][14]}

Photographing the Olympic Games was a constant throughout his career. He covered six Summer Olympic Games, starting with Melbourne in 1956 ^[15] and ending in 1984, with four Winter Olympic Games in between.

One of Zimmerman’s favorite Olympic assignments was taking the "Big Picture" for the LA Olympics in 1984. A group portrait of 18,000 people, ranging from Mayor Tom Bradley, local community leaders, celebrities, the City Ballet and L.A. Dodgers to the UCLA Football team, the Big Picture was a giant advertisement to welcome visitors and athletes to the Games. It was the kind of logistical challenge Zimmerman excelled at: finding a location that could accommodate thousands of people with the L.A. skyline in the background and moving vast crowds to capture one moment in time. The Big Picture was transformed into a spectacular 30 x 80 ft. color billboard that was displayed at various places around the city.^[16]

On meeting Zimmerman in 1972 sports photographer Rich Clarkson said "I had known and admired him for years, watching how he did things technically that no one had ever tried before - such as modifying a Hulcher to produce beautiful pictures of runners with colors streaking from behind them as they ran. John did this at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Or. and believe it or not, he put up a black background and lights on a curve and did this very stylized illustration during an actual competition. The pictures were beautiful." ^[17]

Beginning in the 1970s, Zimmerman brought his instinct for capturing split-second action and camera innovation to the more lucrative arena of print advertising and photographed major advertising campaigns for Marlboro, Ford, Chrysler, AT&T, Exxon, G.E., Pepsi and Coca Cola, among others.

Summing up Zimmerman’s career in a 2003 tribute, photographer Neil Leifer wrote: “John was a master of lighting, whether the subject was a 20,000 seat arena or Christie Brinkley on a beach. He was at ease shooting in 35mm or large format, as adept with wide-angle lenses as he was with telephotos. I put him up there with Avedon, Leibovitz, Penn, and Adams.” ^[18]

Covers

Sports Illustrated

• Ann Marston,1955
• Silky Sullivan, 1958
• Barbara McAlister, 1962
• Mickey Mantle,1962
• Jack Nicklaus,1962
• Jim Nash,1967
• Tracy Austin,1976
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,1977
• John McEnroe,1978
• Frank Gifford,1997

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

• Christie Brinkley,1980, 1981
• Elle MacPherson,1987
• Carol Alt,1982

Other

Books

• Masters of Contemporary Photography: Photographing Sports. Capturing the Excitement of People in Action John G. Zimmerman, Mark Kauffman & Neil Leifer (Alskog, 1975, ISBN 0871000946).
• The Great Life Photographers (ISBN 0316097934)
• Sports Illustrated's The Hockey Book (ISBN 1603201513)

Museums

Zimmerman's work has been exhibited at numerous museums, including the International Center of Photography, the Newseum and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Affiliations

Zimmerman's Estate belongs to the American Photography Archives Group, "...a resource organization for individuals who own or manage a privately held photography archive."

References