Norman Bush

After serving in the United States Air Force between 1952-1956, I left my hometown of Louisville, KY, to follow my dream of being an actor. In New York, I attended The American Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1959.

I got acting parts in Off Broadway theaters and in 1967, became a founding member of the then new Negro Ensemble Company. I toured the U.S. and Europe with them.

I have worked extensively Off Broadway in movies, television, and commercials. In 2005, I was honored to receive the NAACP and City of Los Angeles Trailblazer Award.

My other passion is photography, particularly of the posters I saw pasted on outdoor walls on the New York streets that I walked every day. I was stunned by the “impromptu art” I saw, all by anonymous artists.

I work this way; I walk all over town and photograph whatever I see. Looking back, I see my archive of thousands of photos as a quasi-historical document of 50 years of the history of jazz, politics and theatre in New York.