Career
Hoeffler is mostly known for his photographs of the American Jazz scene of the 50’s and 60’s and of Jazz icons such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, National King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Jimmy Smith, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday. Paul Hoeffler gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography at The Rochester Institute, where he studied under the supervision of Minor White. After his graduation in 1959, Hoeffler moved to New York, where he worked as a master printer in a studio while building his career as a photographer.
He later started his own studio and worked for various magazines, including fashion magazines, and took up wide commercial and artistic assignments.
Prestigious record companies such as Verve, Mercury, Prestige and Blue Note commissioned Hoeffler for numerous album covers. He moved to Toronto, Canada in 1971, where he carried on with his passion for photographing musicians, festivals and clubs.
He produced a few CDs, hosted a radio show and taught at Humber College and Ryerson University. His previous teaching experience was at the Parson"s school of Design in New New York
Many of Hoeffler"s photographs feature in the 2000 Emmy Awards-nominated documentary by Ken Burns, "Jazz".
Paul Hoeffler died of cancer in 2005.