About
Robert "Bob" Roscoe Douglas was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1921. Douglas began his career in Detroit, specializing in nightclub photography. In 1943, he started working as a photojournalist for the Detroit office of the Pittsburgh Courier and for the Michigan Chronicle, covering a wide range of social events, sports, and local happenings. In 1948, Douglas moved to Los Angeles to attend the Fred Archer School of Photography. After graduating in 1950, he worked for Ebony magazine while still contributing to the Courier. Later, he worked for other Black-owned publications such as the California Eagle, the Los Angeles Sentinel, and Sepia, in addition to doing portrait photography.
Douglas photographed jazz musicians mostly as a hobby and out of a love for the music. His entry into photography coincided with the rise of bebop, allowing him to capture iconic musicians such as Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Max Roach. His first exhibition took place at the Black Gallery in the late 1980s. In May 1998, Bradley Center founding director, Dr. Kent Kirkton co-curated an exhibition of Douglas’s work at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee. Sadly, Bob Douglas passed away in 2002, and much of his work’s whereabouts remain unknown. However, the 85 copy slides created by Douglas to make the prints for the WLCAC exhibition and the prints themselves are archived at the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center/Special Collections and are accessible.
