{"id":5354344,"date":"2019-10-18T16:53:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T16:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/?post_type=photographer&#038;p=5354344"},"modified":"2020-10-23T18:03:32","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T18:03:32","slug":"gjon-mili","status":"publish","type":"photographer","link":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/gjon-mili\/","title":{"rendered":"Gjon Mili"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote id=\"single-block_5da08d2f259a0\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5355658 desc=\"Asset ID: 5890188. \" caption=\"Gjon Mili outside his office on Warner Bros. lot where he is directing film, &quot;Jammin&#039; the Blues.&quot; (Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/18164708\/05890188-e1571417572283.jpg\" alt=\"Gjon Mili outside his office on Warner Bros. lot where he is directing film, &quot;Jammin&#039; the Blues.&quot; (Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\"><\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Gjon Mili outside his office on Warner Bros. lot where he is directing film, &#8220;Jammin&#8217; the Blues.&#8221; (Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection \u00a9 Meredith Corporation)<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For a photographer who was far removed from the realm of bland portraiture, it is amusing to recall that he had a plaque in his New York City studio that proclaimed, ALL THE WORLD&#8217;S A CAMERA. LOOK PLEASANT, PLEASE. Gjon Mili (1904-1984) was born in Albania and raised in Romania, before emigrating to America to study electrical engineering at M.I.T. After working at Westinghouse on photographic applications of lighting techniques, he met in 1937 with M.I.T.\u2019s Harold Edgerton, who had developed the stroboscopic light. Mili experimented with the process, then did a shoot for LIFE of tennis star Bobby Riggs in action, setting off a long relationship with the magazine. The pictures, taken in 1\/100,000th of a second, also marked the beginning of a decade of strobe work: &#8220;Time could truly be made to stand still. Texture could be retained despite sudden violent movement.&#8221; Mili went on to take all manner of photographs, marked always by a command of the medium infused with craftsmanship and economy.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_5da9ecd5203c5\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5355659 desc=\"Asset ID: 13051356. \" caption=\"Gjon Mili\/ The LIFE Picture Collection \/ Shutterstock\" title=\"Artist Pablo Picasso using flashlight to make a light drawing in the air.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/18164917\/Mimi_D_I-e1571417388585-817x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Artist Pablo Picasso using flashlight to make a light drawing in the air. (Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection)\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Artist Pablo Picasso using flashlight to make a light drawing in the air.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Gjon Mili\/ The LIFE Picture Collection \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n<blockquote id=\"double-block_5f9319ecf8e3c\" class=\"double-image aligncenter\">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5361928 desc=\"Asset ID: 605586. \" caption=\"Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation\" title=\"Billie Holiday, a singular jazz vocalist known for recordings of such songs as &quot;Strange Fruit&quot; and &quot;God Bless the Child,&quot; performed at one of the late night jazz sessions hosted by LIFE photographer Gjon Mili. Holiday, raised partly in a Baltimore brothel and partly in a home for troubled girls, endured childhood sexual abuse and later became addicted to alcohol and heroin, before dying at age 44, in 1959.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/12155929\/00605586-e1586707168748-805x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Billie Holiday, a singular jazz vocalist known for recordings of such songs as &#8220;Strange Fruit&#8221; and &#8220;God Bless the Child,&#8221; performed at one of the late night jazz sessions hosted by LIFE photographer Gjon Mili. Holiday, raised partly in a Baltimore brothel and partly in a home for troubled girls, endured childhood sexual abuse and later became addicted to alcohol and heroin, before dying at age 44, in 1959.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection \u00a9 Meredith Corporation<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4866603 desc=\"Russian-born American operatic mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel sings as a cat named Blackie sits on a piano, 1952.\" caption=\"Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock\" title=\"Russian-born American operatic mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel sang as a cat named Blackie sat on a piano, 1952.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2017\/07\/international-cat-day-11-809x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Russian-born American operatic mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel sings as a cat named Blackie sits on a piano, 1952.\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Russian-born American operatic mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel sang as a cat named Blackie sat on a piano, 1952.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As an amateur oboe player, Mili had a real appreciation for the performing arts, and over the years he made many lovely photographs of dancers, musicians and actors. He also made a number of fine short films, with such subjects as Dave Brubeck and Pablo Picasso. Mill&#8217;s photograph of Picasso sketching with a penlight is among his most famous.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote id=\"double-block_5f931a8ff8e3d\" class=\"double-image aligncenter\">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5352973 desc=\"Asset ID: 5926067. \" caption=\"Photo by Gjon Mili\/\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/07184920\/05926067-e1570474160821-884x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Christian Dior\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\"><\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Photo by Gjon Mili\/\/The LIFE Picture Collection \u00a9 Meredith Corporation<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=4108151 desc=\"April 7, 1941 issue of LIFE magazine.\" caption=\"Gjon Mili LIFE Magazine\" title=\"April 7, 1941 issue.\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migrated\/2015\/11\/151104-1940s-fashion-07-750x1024.jpg\" alt=\"1940s LIFE Fashion Cover\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">April 7, 1941 issue.<\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Gjon Mili LIFE Magazine<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_5da08d4d259a2\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5355660 desc=\"Asset ID: 13051353. \" caption=\"Dancer Gene Kelly showing off his balletic grande jetee in this stroboscopic studio study. (Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/18165044\/Mili_C_IC2-e1571417444103-1024x806.jpg\" alt=\"Dancer Gene Kelly showing off his balletic grande jetee in this stroboscopic studio study. (Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\"><\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Dancer Gene Kelly showing off his balletic grande jetee in this stroboscopic studio study. (Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection \u00a9 Meredith Corporation)<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy generation came at a time when photography was advancing by leaps and bounds, creating the impulse to experiment and to seek new approaches.&#8221; The time finally came, though, when the device that had made him a star was no longer enough: &#8220;After a decade I became fed up with the strobe because I had done most everything once and I didn&#8217;t want to repeat myself.&#8221; Mili would not completely abandon the strobe, but he worked more and more without it, and with beautiful results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adapted from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Great-LIFE-Photographers-Editors\/dp\/0316097934\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1EH15RRHPZHFO&amp;keywords=the+great+life+photographers&amp;qid=1570115481&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=the+great+life+photogr%2Caps%2C142&amp;sr=8-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Great LIFE Photographers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n<blockquote id=\"single-block_5da9ed81203c6\" class=\"single-image \">\n    <section>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" data=\"block-image\" data-id=5355662 desc=\"Asset ID: 13051352. \" caption=\"Frog submerging after jumping into an aquarium tank. (Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/18165143\/Mili_A_IC3-e1571417503676.jpg\" alt=\"Frog submerging after jumping into an aquarium tank. (Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection &copy; Meredith Corporation)\" \/>\n                <div class=\"image-info\">\n            <p class=\"image-caption\"><\/p>\n            <p class=\"image-caption\">Frog submerging after jumping into an aquarium tank. (Photo by Gjon Mili\/The LIFE Picture Collection \u00a9 Meredith Corporation)<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For a photographer who was far removed from the realm of bland portraiture, it is amusing to recall that he had a plaque in his New York City studio that proclaimed, ALL THE WORLD&#8217;S A CAMERA. LOOK PLEASANT, PLEASE. Gjon Mili (1904-1984) was born in Albania and raised in Romania, before emigrating to America to &#8230; <a title=\"Gjon Mili\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/photographer\/gjon-mili\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4661751,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5354344","photographer","type-photographer","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Photography of Gjon Mili | LIFE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about Gjon Mili, one of the many photographers for LIFE who captured some of the most iconic pictures from the US &amp; around the World.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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