Pixelchatter issue 44

Issue #45

winter 2014

PIXELCHATTER Kevin Brown, Photographer

TM

Looking

2014ahead Monuments Man The greatest treasure hunt in history

Cotton Bowl

On the sidelines at Jerry World

2013

...a look back

Smile with a

2013: What a ride.

T

Scott Anderson

here were cowgirl rodeo trick riders, grooving gospel choirs, west Texas oil rigs, and folks sipping wine at lakeside resorts.

There were motorcycles in the studio, tractor trailers in Arizona, and locomotives on the assembly line.

Yes, 2013 provided a huge variety of projects spread out over more than 150 shoots.

I’m thankful for that.

I’m thankful, too, for the people I met and worked with this past year. I had the opportunity to work with some great folks.

There were quite a few photos that I shot in 2013 that I’m very pleased with...and there are plenty that I’d just as soon never see again. That’s the way it is with photography.

I suppose it’s a little like golf or hitting a curve ball. One day I might shoot like Ben Hogan and the next I’m struggling to make par, mired in sand traps and never making a solid shot.

Making solid shots, whether we’re talking golf or photography, is the name of the game. Birdies are nice...when they come along. And they do.

And eagles are even better, but more elusive. I’ve shot a few.

But I don’t know if I’ve ever shot a hole-in-one. I look back thru my archives and see some images scattered here and there that might be close, but honestly I’d like to think that shot is still in my future.

That’s one thing that keeps me going. Striving for that shot. That one shot that might just define me as a photographer.

It’s a new year. The scores are back at zero and we’re off on a new round. There will be some easy par three shoots, plenty of par fours, and some hellacious par fives. Hopefully, somewhere along the way, I’ll click that shutter and know - just as a golfer might know when he connects with the ball - that I’ve just made my best shot ever.

Nahh, probably not.

Put the gear back in the bag and carry on. There’ll be another round tomorrow.

Truth is, I don’t know if I want to make that shot. I’d rather just keep trying, over and over. Keep shooting. Keep shooting.

Every course is different and that’s what I like.

Photography. It’s the game that I love.

KB Kevin Brown

Kevin Brown, Photographer and Chief Chatterer ON THE COVER Jim Baldwin, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, for Profile magazine.

PixelChatter is photographed, written, and created in-full by Kevin Brown.

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Promotional shot forofaTexas “Ridewelcomed for the Cure” advertisement forfoot Tarter Farm and Ranch In 2013, the State Fair a new attraction, the 500 tall Top o’ Texas Tower, Equipment and here theirwith teaming withStar Theferris All American Chicks a fight against cancer. seen the Texas wheel. 2013Cowgirl marked the 11th in year that Kevin Brown has shot for the State Fair of Texas.

ARLINGTON, TX - On January 3, long lens at-the-ready, I took to the sidelines at Jerry World in Arlington and shot the AT&T Cotton Bowl. The game was a snoozer thru three quarters, but the fourth quarter had lots of fireworks. In the end, my Oklahoma State Cowboys were defeated by the Missouri Tigers, 41-31.

First Baptist Dallas, shot for Manhattan Construction.

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First Baptist Dallas, shot for Manhattan Construction.

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A Toyota car hauler, shot in beautiful Sedona, Arizona for Florida-based client, Fleet Advantage.

Monuments Man One interesting assignment in 2013 came from World War II magazine. They hired me to do an editorial shoot of Robert Edsel, author of several non-fiction best-sellers about how a select group of Allied forces sought to protect and preserve various cultural treasures found in Europe during World War II in an effort to keep them from being stolen or destroyed by the Nazis.

In fact, millions of artifacts were rescued, catalogued and returned by this elite group to their original owners.

One of the books written by Edsel, The Monuments Men, so-captivated George Clooney that he’s turned the story into a movie. Clooney co-wrote, directed, produced, and stars in The Monuments Men, along with Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, and Cate Blanchett.

In addition to the books he’s written, Robert Edsel formed the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art. Edsel has an office in Dallas, where we met for the shoot.

World War II magazine quoted Edsel as saying, “This is an epic story of the greatest treasure hunt in history.”

The Monuments Men motion picture hits theaters on February 7.

WORLD

WAR II

Conversation with Robert M. Edsel

The Monuments Men Man

they considered out of bounds. Imagine young GIs trying to take shelter and get some shut-eye being told to get out of some French chateau or Italian church.

They had to stabilize vulnerable works like Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, left exposed after bombs blew out the walls around it.

They had to advise commanders: “Don’t knock that church over, it’s damaged but it’s reparable.” The engineers wanted rubble for roads, so that was a continuing battle with a lot of younger commanders.

By Gene Santoro

‘The arts are part of what makes our civilization. Are they worth it? Absolutely.’

How did they resolve standoffs?

Most had had positions of authority with few resources in museums and universities, and were used to working with kids. These kids were now their superior officers. They eventually won over most of them by reasoning with them like students: “Don’t you think it’s important we do blahblahblah?” After a few months of despair, they finally began to feel these guys were getting engaged. They’d come up and say things like, “Hey Lieutenant, find any more missing art?”

F

How did the MFAA come to be?

Germany, 1945

was the first solid ground under their feet.

It didn’t give them vast resources. But it gave them explicit support from on high.

delved into how the Allied Armies’

In 1943, President Roosevelt appointed the Roberts Commission to promote the preservation of cultural properties in war zones, provided that didn’t interfere with operations. Eisenhower and some Allied planners agreed: they knew they needed to win the hearts and minds of the people they were liberating. To do that, you’ve got to show respect for their culture. MFAA was the result—less than 150 people with an enormous task.

Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives

Section (MFAA) protected and preserved Europe’s cultural treasures during the war, then found, catalogued, and helped return five million objects the Nazis had plundered to their original owners. The results: three best-sellers (Saving Da Vinci, The Monuments Men, and Saving Italy); a 2006 documentary (The Rape of Europa); and the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art (awarded the 2007 National Humanities Medal). Edsel declares, “This is an epic story

Who became Monuments Men?

of the greatest treasure hunt in history.”

They were older—artists, professors, museum curators—and had families.

They weren’t in great physical shape. They weren’t really soldiers. But they felt there was a job for them in this fight to save Western civilization: its great art was in danger of destruction and plunder on an

George Clooney agrees: he co-wrote, directed, and produced The Monuments Men (in theaters this February) based on Edsel’s work, and stars in the feature film along with Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, and Cate Blanchett.

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WORLD WAR II

Why did Ike get involved?

Monte Cassino?

Unfortunately, that was the first significant test of Ike’s order. The Monuments Men didn’t participate in the decision to bomb it. But afterward, they commented about it in letters and field reports. They largely agreed that, as one wrote, “The decision could hardly have been otherwise, with that building standing there in mocking invincibility over a killing field.”

He was the main guy to initiate this group.

His biggest fear was that we might win the battle and lose the war by destroying much of Europe’s heritage. He wanted a new kind of soldier, one who would save rather than destroy, by steering the war away from cultural targets.

In fall 1943, Eisenhower and George Marshall became very concerned about articles appearing at home about damage to cultural treasures. Naples was destroyed and looted; Allied troops were billeting in landmarks and churches. Ike’s first approach—having the Monuments Men work without any specific directive from him—wasn’t working. The Monuments Men were frustrated. Grumblings got back to Washington. Ike had his senior staff investigate; they told him the Monuments Men didn’t have enough authority. No one paid attention to the out-of-bounds signs they posted. They had no vehicles, no resources. Some were hitchhiking around.

What did that mean on the ground?

What was Ike’s response?

They went in as second lieutenants, so they didn’t have a lot of authority. One of their most miserable tasks was getting Allied troops to avoid billeting in cultural sites

On December 29, he issued a historic directive: It is the duty of commanders and all troops to respect cultural treasures so far as war allows. For Monuments Men, it

unimaginable scale. They watched Paris fall and London burn. Those at colleges watched their classes shrink as the young men they taught left for the war. Some were wondering how to get into the fight.

Like George Stout, a conservator at Harvard’s Fogg Museum.

KEVIN BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY; OPPOSITE, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Hollywood feature. How does the movie differ from your book?

A book can give you depth. In 400 pages, you really can get to know people, what makes them tick. My books have to respect the historical record: we’ve done staggering amounts of research in three or four languages. Filmmakers only have two hours, which flies by much faster than 400 pages. They’ve got several key characters and an epic story, but they’re expert storytellers, and can take license with the historical record.

What sort of license?

How did they view the destruction of

OR A DECADE, Robert Edsel has avidly

Now they are the subject of a major

That’s the question field commanders faced: is art worth a life?

That requires a nuanced answer. Two Monuments Men were killed in northern Europe protecting works of art. But as one put it, “No single work of art is worth a single American boy’s life.” On the other hand, the arts, as a principle like freedom or democracy, are part of what makes our civilization. Are they worth it? Absolutely.

This was the cause the Monuments Men embraced in the fight against the Nazis.

It’s not a documentary. It’s a feature film that’s entertaining but tells a serious story.

What matters is that the audience learns the United States and Britain did something incredibly noble. They broke with history: instead of “to the victor belong the spoils,” they returned the spoils to the people they’d been stolen from. That’s an amazing story. But the filmmakers had to make choices about how to tell the story, such as compressing timelines, to have the maximum impact.

You hope the movie will help the Monuments Men Foundation. How?

Besides preserving the Monuments Men’s legacy, the foundation’s mission is to illuminate the path home for cultural treasures. I think the movie can change how we deal with cultural property during wartime. Think of all the souvenirs picked up by our soldiers; nobody wants to talk about that. Museum boards don’t want to talk about Nazi-looted art. After this movie, they’ll have to. We’re not interested in getting people in trouble.

We’ve already helped recover hundreds of thousands of additional artworks and documents. The movie will broaden the reach of our message. Think of the adage, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” We didn’t have Monuments Men in Iraq, and look how much we lost.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014

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World War II magazine article and photo.

Author Robert Edsel with a box containing a book of photographs of pieces of art seized by the Nazis. The book was one of several owned by Hitler. The books were used by Hitler to select pieces of art that he wanted to display for his own personal gratification.

20 13

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Tarter Farm and Ranch Equipment

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First Baptist Dallas, shot for Manhattan Construction.

First Baptist Dallas, shot for Manhattan Construction.

The State Fair of Texas welcomed a new Big Tex in 2013, after a fire destroyed the cowboy in 2012.

The State Fair of Texas

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