A Stroll in the Gallery: Billie’s Killer Shoes

Herman Leonard. Billie Holiday’s Shoes. 1955. Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans.

Jazz photographer Herman Leonard told NPR why he chose this shot Lady Day’s shoes: "I thought to myself, this sort of epitomizes her life. She was in chains most of the time. She never really had any full control of her own life," he says. "I like to photograph images — particularly of well-known people — where you don't see their face, but the image does express part of their personality."