John Gossage, born in New York in 1946 and now residing in Washington, D.C., studied with Lisette Model and Alexey Brodovitch in 1960–61. In the late 1960s he learned Telecaster guitar from Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton, leaving professional music in 1973 to return to photography. Between 1974 and 1990 Gossage exhibited at Leo Castelli Gallery in New York; since 1990 he has concentrated almost exclusively on publications, producing over 20 titles. His books with Steidl include The Thirty-Two Inch Ruler (2010), and Looking up Ben James – A Fable (2018).