Walter Iooss

About Walter Iooss

Walter Iooss Jr. (born 1943) has been a professional photographer since the age of 19. He is perhaps best known for his work with Sports Illustrated magazine (including nearly 300 cover photographs) and for his portraits of famous athletes like Michael Jordan, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ken Griffey, Jr.

Iooss (pronounced "yoce", IPA: /ˈjoʊs/) was born in Temple, Texas, but moved to East Orange, New Jersey at age five. As a child, he was consumed with sports and with the athletes who played them. His first photo assignments revolved around sports. His first formal photographic training was an accelerated fundamentals course at Germain School of Photography in New York City while he was still in high school. He soon began contributing to Sports Illustrated and earned his first cover at age 20 with a picture of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Art Mahaffey.

From 1968 through 1972, Iooss was an in-house photographer for Atlantic Records in New York, where his subjects included performers like James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.