A Look Into Fashion & Fitness Photographer Marty Gottlieb

An engineer turned photographer, Marty Gottlieb is now an internationally recognized fashion and fitness photographer.  He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.)  where he earned his Master of Science degree, but little did many know his path would change course. Here's a look into photographer Marty Gottlieb. 

​Growing up in a working-class suburb five miles from the Bronx, his family was deeply into the arts. Gottlieb’s mother had been a singer on radio when she was younger. His father, an engineer, was also a photographer who owned a camera store and photofinishing lab. 

Gottlieb got his first camera from his dad when he was five years old along with an endless supply of free film, free flash bulbs, and free overnight developing. 

​He was 5 years old when he saw a twenty-foot-tall T-Rex at the 1964 World’s Fair. Incidentally, it was the same T-Rex that was immortalized on the cover of Bill Cotter’s book Images of America: The 1964-1965 New York’s World’s Fair. Young Marty borrowed his father’s 35mm Pentax, who set the settings and showed him how to focus the camera. It was at this moment Gottlieb realized his passion for photography, and demonstrated a keen eye for the subject matter. ​

​The house they lived in had an unfinished 2nd floor. He spent much of his childhood helping his father build it into a large family room and woodshop. He learned how to capture great photos with simple plastic cameras. 

Gottlieb Senior taught spies how to take photos during WWII, and a lot of those principles applied to teaching an active young boy. 

He also taught him that it is the photographer, not the camera, that gets the photo, “If I gave you Rembrandt’s brushes could you paint like Rembrandt?”

​​​Gottlieb’s high school art teacher was also an important supporter and mentor.  She encouraged him to experiment and develop his own style. She told him to just keep working and producing. That hard work would lead to success.  She was right.  

Gottlieb’s big break came while shooting routine headshots for modeling portfolios when he ran into someone well-connected in the fitness world. He shot a series for her, which exploded her social media, and he soon became known in the fitness world. The rest is history.

Images by Marty Gottlieb
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In 2020, Gottlieb became the official photographer for the Mr. America Show.  His photos have also been featured on television, including the Wendy Williams Show. 

He lives in Hoboken, N.J. 

For more on Marty Gottlieb, visit www.martygottlieb.com