James D. Gossage

Individual

James Gossage is an American photographer from Bellingham, Washington. He is known for his prolific work documenting the early Off-Off Broadway movement.

Gossage was introduced to the scene by Robert Berger in the early 1960s, and worked with Berger on several creative projects over the next few years. In 1965, Harry Koutoukas asked him to photograph a benefit for the post-fire Cino (at the Writers Stage on East 4th Street). "From there," Gossage remembered (in an April 13, 2015 email to La MaMa), "I was invited to Cafe La MaMa at 122 Second Avenue," where he became something of a house photographer. Gossage began by photographing Tom Eyen's productions (and producing flyers and posters for Eyen's shows). But soon, a wide range of other artists were requesting that he photograph their productions, as well.

Gossage relocated to the West Coast in 1976, and in 1980 began creating a comprehensive index of his Off-Off-Broadway photos (first "on a Radio Shack floppy computer" and then on a PC). Several years later he had completed a "database and report structure I was proud of." He currently lives in Bellingham, Washington.

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