Joseph Pilates at Jacob’s Pillow, 1951
Archival Prints from the Jack Mitchell Archives
New! Pilates Archival Photo Prints have been to the Pilates Archival Print Shop!
Presenting a series of never-before-seen archival pilates photos depicting Joe Pilates teaching at Jacob’s Pillow in 1951, and corrective footwork exercises by Carola Trier.
I am so excited to work with Craig Highberger of the Jack Mitchell Archives to bring two series of newly discovered, never-before-seen photos from Pilates history to the Pilates community at large. Working with Craig has been so wonderful and thanks to archivists like him, this history has been preserved so that we can all learn from it and enjoy it today.
About the Joseph Pilates at Jacob’s Pillow 1951 Photo Series
This series of photos was hidden within the negatives of Jack Mitchell’s archives and are newly discovered for the first time since 1951. They are now available as a series of prints that not only reflect Pilates history, Joe Pilates’ historical teachings at Jacob’s Pillow and in the Tea Garden, but they also highlight Jack Mitchell’s incredible talent as a world-renowned photographer.
Joseph Pilates famously taught his mat classes, which were then known as Body Conditioning classes, at Jacob’s Pillow off and on between the years 1941-1951. These photos were captured during his last year as a teacher at Jacob’s Pillow.
You can commemorate this historical pilates discovery the following prints for your own studio.
View the Joseph Pilates at Jacob’s Pillow, 1951 Print Collection
View the Carola Trier Corrective Work, 1961 Print Collection
About the Photographer, Jack Mitchell
Jack Mitchell (September 13, 1925 – November 7, 2013) is widely considered to have been one of the most important dance photographers of the 20th century, whose portfolio consists of countless iconic American artists, dancers, film and theatre performers, musicians and writers of the 20th century.
His subjects include Andy Warhol, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Harry Belafonte, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Travolta, Whitney Houston, Salvatore Dali, and Ted Shawn, Joseph Pilates, Carola Trier, and many more.
First introduced to the dance world by Ted Shawn of Jacob’s Pillow, Jack Mitchell’s nearly five decade career encompassed more than 7000 individual photo sessions covering all the performing and fine arts.
He photographed the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre for three decades, ultimately producing a body of work that includes over ten thousand images. This series is now part of the permanent collection at The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, where he has been called “the benchmark by which other dance photographers assessed their own work.”
He was also the official photographer of the American Ballet Theatre for a decade, and his work appeared on over 160 covers of Dance Magazine.
Source: The Jack Mitchell Archives
Photographer: Jack Mitchell
Featuring: Joe Pilates, Jacob’s Pillow, Pilates Dance Students, The Tea Garden
Copyright: © Jack Mitchell
“Tea Garden Warm Up”
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“Jacob’s Pillow Mat Class”
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“Tea Garden Jackknife”
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