Born and raised in Southern California, William Claxton holds a special place in the history of American photography. Since his earliest pictures in the 1950s, he has been creating photographs that have garnered attention for their intimate yet soulful feel.
Always noted for his sensitive and poetic style Claxton has long been considered the preeminent photographer of the jazz music. His jazz imaginary has graced the covers of countless albums and magazines for over five decades....he has become a favourite in galleries and among a young generation of photographers who admired the stylish realism of his work.
During my research for portrait photographers I came across of one of the W.Claxton`s books dedicated to last century, one of the brightest Hollywood stars - Steve McQueen. What do you get when you combine a great American actor with a great American photographer? Arguably the coolest celebrity photo book ever published. Which is only fitting when the actor happens to be Steve McQueen, the cinematic icon who redefined the word “cool” during the 1960s, and the photographer is William Claxton? As my main theme involves only one person – my daughter it’s good take some inspiration from great masters.Claxton frequented McQueen throughout his many incarnations (dirt bike rider, movie actor, sports car driver, ladies’ man, family man, etc.), capturing at every turn another side of McQueen's enigmatic tough-guy/nice-guy personality. As this photo album demonstrates, Claxton's photographic talent and sensibilities were perfectly attuned to the actor's multifaceted character. This is the real Steve McQueen, Immortalized by Claxton's empathetic lens. I think that William Claxton has captured all sides of the great star, his passion for speed, McQueen relaxed at home, in his swimming pool, on location all over the USA, and Claxton had obviously gained McQueen's trust, and some of the images are a testament to this.
That kind of access would be impossible today, when a movie star’s contact with the media is meted out in small, rigidly controlled portions showing off wearing the masks. That kind of photographs is good only for yellow press unfortunately. Where come`s Claxton who made on the sets of early McQueen films. Naturally, Claxton also focused on McQueen’s trademark intensity: An electric image sequence of the actor participating in a cross-country motorcycle race in the Mojave Desert recalls McQueen’s breakout. The photographs underscore how much the actor’s on-screen cool was rooted in his physical being.
That kind of access would be impossible today, when a movie star’s contact with the media is meted out in small, rigidly controlled portions showing off wearing the masks. That kind of photographs is good only for yellow press unfortunately. Where come`s Claxton who made on the sets of early McQueen films. Naturally, Claxton also focused on McQueen’s trademark intensity: An electric image sequence of the actor participating in a cross-country motorcycle race in the Mojave Desert recalls McQueen’s breakout. The photographs underscore how much the actor’s on-screen cool was rooted in his physical being. 
William Claxton's warm and spontaneous pictures tellingly capture Steve McQueen’s rugged individualism and unassailable self-assurance during the heady years of the actor’s nascent stardom. But perhaps more important, they convey the sheer, unadulterated joy McQueen took in the art of living life to the full, and there’s nothing cooler than that.
http://www.williamclaxton.com/movie.html
http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0103/claxton_intro.htm
http://www.wwd.com/eye/people/photographer-william-claxton-dies-1833923
