Bruce Talamon facts for kids

Bruce Wayne Talamon, born on July 31, 1949, is a famous American photographer. He is well-known for taking amazing pictures of R&B and soul music stars in the 1970s and 1980s. He also worked as a photographer for magazines and movies.

Early Life and First Camera

Bruce was born in Los Angeles on July 31, 1949. He went to high school and then studied political science at Whittier College in California. In 1970, while studying in Berlin, Germany, he bought his very first camera. With it, he took pictures of famous jazz musicians like Miles Davis and Dexter Gordon in Copenhagen. After college in 1971, he decided to become a photographer instead of going to law school.

Career Highlights

Photographing Music Stars

After college, Bruce got a chance to photograph the 1972 Watts Festival in Los Angeles. Even though he didn't get the official job, he got a special backstage pass. This allowed him to take pictures of many famous R&B artists. His photo of Isaac Hayes was the first R&B picture he ever took! At the festival, he met another photographer, Howard Bingham. Bingham introduced him to Soul Newspaper, where Bruce started working as a photographer and later became a photo editor.

In 1974, Bruce began working with Motown Records, a very famous music company. Soon, he was taking pictures for other record companies too, like CBS Records. He also started freelancing for popular magazines such as Jet, Ebony, and Black Stars. Throughout his career, he photographed many household names, including Donna Summer, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Bootsy Collins, and Chaka Khan.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Bruce traveled with several artists on tour. He went with Bob Marley from 1978 to 1980, and with Earth, Wind and Fire from 1979 to 1980. His work for R&B record companies mostly ended in 1982 due to new rules about photo rights.

Photography for TV and Movies

Bruce started taking "stills photography" in 1975. This means he took photos on movie and TV sets. As a photographer for ABC Television, he worked on popular shows like Laverne & Shirley, Taxi, American Bandstand, and Charlie's Angels. In 1980, Don Cornelius hired him to be the stills photographer for the famous music show Soul Train.

His first big movie job as a stills photographer was for the 1982 film Blue Thunder. Over the next thirty years, he worked on many major films. Some of these include Staying Alive (1983), The Golden Child (1986), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), and Space Jam (1996).

Bruce also worked as an editorial photographer for Time magazine. His first big assignment for Time was covering the 1984 American presidential primaries. He photographed Reverend Jesse Jackson during his campaign to become president. He covered politics for Time again during the 1988 Democratic primaries.

Since the mid-1990s, Bruce's work has been featured in several photography books and exhibitions. These include his own book Bob Marley: Spirit Dancer (1994) and his contributions to Barack Obama: The Official Inaugural Book (2009). His photos were also shown in the exhibition R&B Photographs: 1972–1982 (2014).

Personal Life

Bruce Talamon has one son.

Exhibitions

• Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers, Brooklyn Museum, New York, 2001.
• R&B Photographs: 1972–1982, Contact Photo Lab, The Brewery, Los Angeles, 2014.
• Hotter Than July, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, 2022.