Paul Hoeffler "Rochester Jazz" photographic collection

Paul Hoeffler (1937-2005) began this work while pursuing his BFA in Photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) where he studied with mentors Minor White and Charlie Arnold and visiting photographers Ansel Adams, Ernst Hass, Margaret Bourke-White, Alfred Eisenstadt, and Beaumont and Nancy Newhall. Hoeffler soon found an early career niche photographing jazz musicians, and his passion for the subject was nourished by none other than Louis Armstrong, along with local Rochester music promoters and jazz club owners. With permission to arrive early and work backstage, Hoeffler became a "regular" at the Pythodd Club, the Ridgecrest Inn, the Auditorium Theater, the Eastman Theater, and the University of Rochester auditoriums, as well as at the local Saturday night dances at the Rochester Roller Rink. His easygoing manner allowed him to interact easily with the visiting jazz greats who in turn were, somewhat surprisingly, quick to accept this enthusiastic "outsider." This acceptance resulted in a warm and unselfconscious approach that allowed Hoeffler to capture them backstage and in their hotels at their most informal and relaxed moods, as well as capturing the excitement of the performances on stage. Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Lee Morgan, Carmen McRae, Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins are just a few of the jazz artists visiting the Rochester clubs at this time and all captured on film by Hoeffler. But in addition to the photos of the jazz greats (and equally impressive, intimate and important) are photographs of the members of the Rochester community attending these events. This is a slice of Rochester history that had slipped out of reach, but has now been brought back into focus by Paul Hoeffler.

Hoeffler went on to work as the photographer in demand for art work for the New York recording studios Verve, Prestige, Mercury and the Blue Note. His work was prominently featured in the Ken Burns documentary Jazz and it was Hoeffler's images that were selected by Burns to promote the series; his work is also featured throughout the book that accompanied the series, Jazz: A History of America's Music by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns. Hoeffler was described by Burns as "one of the truly great jazz photographers, a real treasure." Hoeffler passed away in 2005.

An exhibition entitled "Mid-Century Jazz in Rochester, 1955-1962: Photographic Prints from the Paul Hoeffler Archive" was on display in Rare Books and Special Collections, Rush Rhees Library, from September 2002 - February 2003. A second exhibit of the photographer's work was mounted in Friedlander Lobby in Rush Rhees for Meliora Weekend 2021.