AllMovie

Photographer Herman Leonard has enjoyed a distinguished career by any standards -- getting his start as an apprentice with the great Yousuf Karsh, Leonard became a top fashion and travel photographer, worked for Life and Time magazines, and spent years as the European photo editor for Playboy. But Leonard's greatest passion outside of photography has always been jazz, and he created memorable portraits and performance shots of many of the most legendary names in American music. Leonard also became close friends with many of his subjects, and in the documentary The Truth In Terms Of Beauty, filmmaker Vince DiPersio allows Leonard to share the remarkable story of his life and career, sharing stories about Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and other iconic figures of jazz and blues as he recounts both the good and bad sides of his own history. Leonard's close friends Quincy Jones and Tony Bennett also share their memories, and dozens of the photographer's classic images are on display. The Truth In Terms Of Beauty received its world premiere at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival.