NEW YORK, NY.- Bruce Silverstein is presenting an online selection of photographs by the legendary sports photographer Walter Iooss. Spanning some of the most iconic moments in twentieth-century sports history, the images include celebrated works such as The Catch and Roger Maris Hits His 61st Home Run, alongside photographs that have never before been exhibited or published.

Widely considered the world’s most influential sports photographer, Walter Iooss Jr. has helped define the visual language of modern sports for more than six decades. Often described as “the Rembrandt of sports photography” for his masterful use of light, shadow, color, and composition, Iooss’s images transcend the fame of their subjects, becoming enduring symbols of athletic excellence and contemporary sports culture. His photographs appeared on more than 300 covers of Sports Illustrated—more than any other photographer in the magazine’s history—over a career that spanned 58 years with the publication.

Born in Texas in 1943 to a family of sports fans, Iooss discovered photography at fifteen and began photographing professional football within a year. At just seventeen, he received his first assignment from Sports Illustrated, and by twenty he was shooting its covers. Renowned for his ability to establish deep trust with his subjects, Iooss earned unparalleled access to locker rooms, team planes, and private spaces, allowing him to capture moments of rare intimacy. Reflecting on this connection, Michael Jordan once observed, “From what I can tell, Walter has never taken a bad shot of anybody or anything… You don’t have to perform for Walter.”

Among Iooss’s most celebrated photographs are images that have come to define the visual memory of modern sports. His photograph of Michael Jordan soaring through the air for a gravity-defying slam dunk distilled Jordan’s athletic dominance into a single, timeless gesture and is widely cited as a defining image of basketball’s global ascent. Equally enduring is his coverage of The Catch, the legendary moment between the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, frequently referenced by historians and journalists as a turning point in NFL history and one of the most consequential plays ever photographed. These images endure not merely as records of athletic achievement but as photographs that shaped how those moments are remembered. His legacy and influence were further examined in the three-part documentary series GOATs: The Greatest of All Time, produced by ESPN, which explored the greatest athletes in history through Iooss’s photographs.

Over the course of his career, Iooss photographed nearly every athlete at the peak of their sport, including Muhammad Ali, Pelé, Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, Kobe Bryant, Cristiano Ronaldo, and many others. He photographed each of the first 52 Super Bowls, authored Shooting for the Gold following U.S. athletes preparing for the 1984 Olympics, and co-created the New York Times bestselling book Rare Air. Alongside his editorial work, Iooss produced major advertising campaigns for Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola, and other global brands.

Iooss’s photographs are held in the permanent collections of major American museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Delaware Art Museum, the Asheville Art Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Bates College Museum of Art, and the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. In 2018, he was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame, cementing his legacy as a central figure in the history of photography.