Bill Jay

Bill Jay is a writer and educator in the field of photography. He was the founder of the Program of Photographic Studies at The University of Arizona, where he taught for 25 years. He has written extensively on the history of photography and photographic criticism. His essays are a pleasure to read and comprise, as a collection, a veritable course in photographic history.

Personally, once I start reading one of his pieces, I find that I can’t put it down until I have finished it. If you are familiar with the End Notes from LensWork you also know that he has a brand of cynical humor that is second to none. This is also evident in his collection of essays.

Bill has made available for download, via his website, a huge portion of his rather extensive writings. Trust me, this will keep you busy for months. The essays can be found here.

While you are on his website, don’t miss his collection of portraits that he has made of other photographers.

Bill, if you are out there, thanks for making this collection of your writings available on the internet!