Jan Persson

Jan Persson (July 22, 1943 – November 15, 2018) worked as freelance photographer since 1962 for Danish newspapers and magazines in and around Copenhagen. Early on he specialized on documenting the jazz scene, later also the visiting beat and rock musicians who visited Copenhagen during the sixties and the seventies. His works have been documented in a series of books and exhibitions (see bibliography and exhibitions) and his pictures are used on more than 1000 album and CD covers.

Biography
Persson supplied photos to Down Beat since 1962, Jazz Special (DK), Musica Jazz (IT), Melody Maker (UK) and Danish newspapers Politiken, Berlingske Tidende and Ekstra Bladet. Persson received the Ben Webster Prize in March 2004. His photographs were published by a number of magazines, reissue record companies, and documentary films on the history of both jazz and rock music. Persson's jazz and rock photographs feature American jazz greats Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis to rock icons Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. His photo archives have been exhibited internationally. More than 15.000 pictures are now in the files of Aalborg University in Denmark. Persson died in 2018 at age 75 due to cancer in a hospice near Copenhagen. He leaves behind his wife, MajBritt Persson and three children from earlier marriage, Christina Persson, Louise Persson, and Julie Lund

Exhibitions

 * Musikhuset Århus, Denmark,1990
 * Govinda Gallery, Washington, USA ”Monks World”, 1997
 * The Jazz Gallery, New York, USA ”Images of Miles Davis”, 1998
 * North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, Holland with Gorm Valentine & Jørgen Bo, 1999
 * Travelling Exhibition in Spain with Gorm Valentin & Jørgen Bo, 2001
 * Missouri History Museum, St.Louis USA. 24 fotos af Miles Davis, 2001
 * Travelling Exhibition in Italy with Gorm Valentin & Nicola Fasano, 2003
 * Studio Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, 2005
 * The Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles, USA, 2005
 * Copenhagen Central Library, Denmark, 2006
 * Gladsaxe Main Library, Denmark, 2007
 * Casa Bossi, Novara Jazzfestival, Italy, 2011

Awards

 * Ben Webster Prize, Denmark, 2004
 * Jazzformidlerprisen (The Jazz Communicator Award), Denmark, 2009
 * jazzahead! Skoda Award, Bremen, Germany, 2014.