Otto Hess

US-American photographer of German heritage, best known for his portraits of jazz performers in New York City from roughly 1937–1947. He was born in 1906 in Karlsruhe, Germany, immigrated to the United States in 1930 and died in 1968. Initially worked in sales, but honing his photography skills so that by 1940, photography had become his primary source of income. Spent several years in the U.S. Army from 1942 on, and began upon return from the Army exhibiting his photographic work. A collection of his work is held at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, documenting the cultural life in the 1930s and 1940s including musical and theatrical performances, weddings, and sporting events.