This book was published in conjunction with the exhibition “The Reflected Eye,” May 19—July 6, 2015. Curator: Patty Sicular Editor: Karen Boltax Design, Publishing and Production Management: TOTEM Creative Essay: Steven Kasher Legal Counsel: Doreen Small, Partner/Marquart & Small, LLP Major support for this exhibition and catalog has been provided by TOTEM Creative and Dune Studios. © 2015 TOTEM Creative © 2015 Steven Kasher—essay text TOTEM Creative 121 Varick Street, Storefront New York, NY 10013 www.totemcreative.com All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without express written consent in writing by the publisher and the photographer(s) or photographer’s estate. ISBN-13: 978-0-692-43103-0
Curated by Patty Sicular; Edited by Karen Boltax. Essay by Steven Kasher.
One large subset of early photographic self-portraiture has come to be known as “occupationals.” By the tens of thousands, workers set themselves up in front of the camera to pose with the tools of their occupation. A spinner dangles her bobbin, a butcher flashes his big knife, a surgeon poses with scalpel and skull, a cellist strokes his instrument with hunched attention. All varieties of work are clearly and proudly manifested.
What Makes a Photographer Sexy? Just before the Civil War, a photographic technology was invented in the United States that forever changed the medium. The “tintype,” as it came to be called, was exceedingly easy to make and cheap to commission. Anyone who had a few spare bucks in his pocket could walk into one of the thousands of studios that popped up on main streets and boardwalks, in fairground tents and in covered wagons. Millions of eager subjects walked in—and walked out a few minutes later with a durable, portable portrait. The affordable photographic portrait created a revolution of the self. For the first time in the history of mankind, anyone, of any class, could create an indelible image of his or her self, an object like a frozen mirror. This precious reflection was made to keep in an album, to share with a lover, mother or child, or to rivet to a tombstone. Anyone was now able to preserve a moment that they believed would stand for their self. No longer did the self’s image disappear completely. But what sort of self to capture? Yes, the tintype “operator” was going to maximize his business and try to get the subject in and out of his studio as fast as possible. But the customers were paying for these pictures and could request what they want. They would ask themselves questions: How to pose? What face to put on? How to dress? Sunday best, weekend biking or hiking garb, work clothes? Should I sit on a chair or on the floor, or maybe strike a boxer’s pose? Do I stand alone, or with friends or family? Should I hold some object of special import? My baby, my cat, my favorite book, a flower I grew, my carpenter’s hammer and saw?
For this exhibition, the curator put out a call for occupational images. This was not the “selfie” challenge, the challenge so many of us give ourselves to produce a ceaseless babbling brook of self-reflecting moments. This solicitation was more honed, more difficult. It demanded precision—and concision. Find one image of you that will reflect the “You” by which you want to be known. One image must do. It should emphasize your professional role. What image would you choose? But there’s more. Not only are you challenged to represent “You” as you want to be seen, you must do it with the very tools and product of your trade. As if a baker were asked to bake a cake of himself, the eating of which would reveal his place in the world. Or if a poet were asked to write her own obituary. What would you bake? What would you write? Would your cake be serious or decorated, high tiered or low, sweet or tart? What would your obituary poem sing, what would it leave in silence? However, the curator’s solicitation was not submitted to a list of bakers or poets, but to professional photographers. Those photographers (or their estates) were each asked to submit that one photograph (not a cake or a poem) that would best represent them. This catalog and exhibition of photographic prints are the result of those submissions.
These guys want to be seen as young, not old. They put more of a premium on spunk than wisdom.
What we see is a set of occupationals remarkable for its consistency. Almost every subject has a camera; not a computer, an enlarger, a printer or an editing pen, or even just a soulful or friendly face: each has a camera in hand. These guys (for they are overwhelmingly men) capture. They wield not just any camera, but almost always a large camera with a big, stiff lens protruding. These guys are strong, virile. Very often they have tripods to help and human assistants. They are not grab-what-you-can amateurs and they captain crews.
These dudes like to get tall. They climb ladders, trees, roofs. They tower. There are more jumpers than one could imagine: not bound to earth or to convention, also seeking that higher perspective. The chosen pictures are not always recent pictures. Some are many decades old, even for living subjects. These guys want to be seen as young, not old. They put more of a premium on spunk than wisdom.
These photographers like to be seen with their objects of affection—their women, or men— or whatever they like. About a dozen have included ravishing models or actresses in their submissions, usually baring flesh. Costuming is casual but chic. An open-collared shirt is almost de rigeur; thin black ties are frequent, usually loosened at the neck. Hair styling is considered but not emphasized. Fernand Fonssagrives offers us an image that is typical but simplified. He is all style and vigor, fitness and elegance: loose shirt, nice hair, prominent cheekbones, chiseled chin, and brazen arms. These are a sexy bunch of dudes indeed… and the ladies too.
These photographers like to be seen with their objects of affection—their women, or men—or whatever they like.
Alexi Lubomirski is a charming example. He holds his big-lensed Hasselblad like it’s a dry martini. He is gracefully in-sync with the barelegged, caped and draped lovely at his shoulder; they share a gesture of reaching for the future with outstretched hands, arms and gazes. The scene is balletic, as if from “West Side Story,” choreographed by Robbins to Bernstein rhythms. Lubomirski wears the tight-jeans-white-shirt-thinblack-tie outfit that Warhol popularized way back when and which is still hip in New York today. There’s the shadowy goatee and “stache.” The guy pulls it all off. He is hot.
Herbert Matter’s picture, submitted by his son Alex, brings a mellow blend of European and New World suavity. It’s in the suntan, the muscular hair, the tweed, the lean into the frame, the burst of seagulls, the one-handed Rollei grip. You want this guy as your dad or your wing man. His wife Mercedes, a marvelous painter, was lucky to have him as the guy who took her portraits and her nudes. Definitely a virile guy. Jerry Schatzberg is another fine example. Today, Jerry is unreasonably spry and sexy in his 80s, usually seen sporting black leather, long greying locks and a smoked-almond voice. Still hip. But what does Jerry submit? A cluttered snapshot from around 40 years ago. He sports a grandfatherly beige cardigan over the white-shirt-black-tie. Are those beige corduroys? Unlike almost every other guy in our show, he does not handle his camera, but leaves that big old “Hassy” on a tripod, balancing a cigar as he fiddles with his fingers. Dorky but confident. Sexy without the slightest effort. A brilliant move. We understand what Faye Dunaway in her prime saw in this guy. Miles Aldridge is a gent who, I can attest, literally turns the ladies’ heads when he walks into a room. He was married to one of the greatest models of all time, Kristen McMenamy. Miles plays it cool in his picture. Like with Schatzberg, there is the clutter, the snapshotty composition, the not-chic clothing. He’s got the ladder, the big camera, the assistants.
A black card points to and slices through his eyeballs, like a Malevich painting. The whole effect is casual but intense: James Dean-sexy. Here’s an example that packs in the sexiness tropes. Up on a giant ladder, large studio with (distracted) assistant, giant camera in hand, big phallic lens, nude model (African American). It’s Howard Schatz in baggy pants, faceless. He’s not revealing any emotion, not embodying much grace or charm. So sexiness is deflated. His picture is more about raw power. Let’s look at the jumpers: Uli Rose, Jordan Matter, and Gianmarco Chieregato. Chieregato has bare feet and a seamless background, Rose has no pants and socked feet, Matter defies gravity in a Times Square throng. Rather than in sexiness they are more interested in acrobatics and surprise. The Victor Skrebneski photo is the only one with no camera in sight. Skrebneski is in a contrasty black and white Paris, hiding awkwardly behind a mottled stone pedestal, sprouting the Eiffel Tower from his thick head of hair. Several municipal poles upstage the Tower. It is so spiky and odd and Parisian, as to be quite sexy. Tim Geaney is put out there shirtless against a saturated blue sky. He sports a bandana at his neck (a fallen headband?) and a modest camera at his waist. We are shown a hint of corduroys with unrequited belt loops. He wears a sweet smile under a long blond ’70s coif. I like him. Is he sexy? Probably, if you like that kind of thing.
The two figures are shaped into a mirror-image Yin-Yang configuration.
The other bare-chested guy is Patrik Andersson, shown shooting at close range his topless model, Anna Tamander. He’s wearing slack white skivvies, while her white panties are taut. The two figures are shaped into a mirror-image Yin-Yang configuration. His skinny twist of a frame sprouts body hair at various points and crannies, while she is lusciously smooth. Her pouting lips seem to yearn for his long probing lens. This picture is obscene. We can call this picture sexy, even if its portrayal of the photographer is not.
Ten of the male photographers present themselves with beautiful female models or actresses. Mostly, the males get upstaged. Sometimes the effect is comical, such as when Art Kane arranges an ass-pat from a stunning lady in red chiffon. It is comical in an Italian way when Sandro Morriconi in a wife-beater towers over a bikini-clad model foreshortened back from her striped crotch. Tim Petersen disappears comically into the mirrors while spying on a gorgeous starlet. Between leering Chester Maydole and semi-nude Cybill Shepherd there are some bars, like in a jail cell. Good thing. The tension between Bernie Abramson and Elizabeth Taylor is avuncular, at best. He’s inching up on her and she’s keeping her distance. All in all, putting a sexy girl in your self-portrait has advantages, but it is probably not the sexiest strategy. So what about the women photographers in this selection? Shannon Sinclair presents a view of her behind with lots of long leg and a little black dress. Andi Elloway shows off her shapely legs in cutoffs and an adorable smile. Pamela Hanson offers her strong freckled arm in a rolled-up
white tee and flashes a multi-dimpled smile under a monumental forehead surmounted by dark specs. Marili Forastieri grips a smiling male assistant’s head in her lap and broadcasts a huge smile. All of these women are in control—and gorgeously sexy. Elinor Carucci offers a most nuanced female perspective. She puts her cute but not perfect naked butt right up front as she photographs her son and mother, who pose for her. The picture juxtaposes her physical vulnerability to their naked expressions, mirroring her across the generations, embodiments of her past and her future. This produces an extraordinarily unusual and moving self portrait of a photographer who situates sex in family history. Some of my favorite pictures in this collection are old-school. Bob Gruen faces his mirror one day in the early ’70s with Buddha at his heart chakra, a gigantic Jewfro, a strong grip on a basic camera and eyes wide open. There is a feeling of release as he releases the shutter. Erwin Blumenfeld uses three levels of transparency and opacity to focus on the five lenses he uses to fashion an image that is both ghostly and concrete, constructing a modernist hero. Pasquale de Antonis summons a moody Italian Neorealist landscape filled with sphinx-like rocks, a Chinese box of a view camera, a strange magician and a beautifully manicured Roman road. Platon chooses to present himself with his friend and mentor, the esteemed graphic designer and advice giver, George Lois. Platon choreographs one hand of each of them so as to frame their adjoining heads, one of an acolyte, the other of his sensei. These four creations may not be about sex above all, but their intelligence and originality are a profound turn-on.
These four creations may not be about sex above all, but their intelligence and originality are a profound turn-on.
Steven Kasher—April, 2015
Francesco Scavullo 1940, Unknown
Pasquale de Antonis 1950, Unknown
Melvin Sokolsky
1960, Self-portrait. New York City
Paul Hesse Studios Unknown
Otto Fenn
1954, Unknown
Glenn Embree 1955, Unknown
ERWIN BLUMENFELD 1950, Self-portrait
Jerry Schatzberg Unknown
Ted Allan
1964, Unknown
Sid Avery
1957, Unknown
Gleb Derujinksy Unknown. Thailand
Duffy
1959, Unknown. Henley-on-Thames, London
Herbert Matter Unknown. GaspĂŠ
Fernand Fonssagrives Unknown
Bob Gruen
1977, Self-portrait. New York City
Platon AND george lois 2012, Platon. New York City
Denis Piel with goldie 1985, Self-portrait
Rainer Hosch Meinrad Hofer
Patrik Andersson Unknown
Norman Parkinson 1962, Self-portrait
Douglas Kirkland 1961, Unknown
Alexi Lubomirski 2013, Unknown
Chester Maydole Unknown
Tim Petersen 2014, Self-portrait
Miles Aldridge James Kelly
Robin Broadbent 2006, Anna Barry-Jester
Art Kane
1980, Unknown
Elinor Carucci 2014, Eran Bendheim
Tarun Kjiwal Unknown
Sandro Morriconi 1960’s, Unknown
Gian Paolo Barbieri Vecchiarelli
Chris Craymer
2014, Unknown. Lancaster, CA
Victor Skrebneski 1982, Self-portrait. Paris
Shannon Sinclair Unknown. New York City
Bernie Abramson Claude Nori
1969, Patrick Chapuis
Unknown
Marili Forastieri 1977, Unknown
Pamela Hanson Unknown
Patrick McMullan 1996, Anita Antonini
Ralph Gibson Lou Reed
Antonello and Roberto Patella Unknown
Willy Rizzo Unknown
Torkil Gudnason
1990, Self-portrait. Copenhagen
James Porto 2007, Scott Siken
Uli Rose
Self-portrait
Jordan Matter
Unknown. New York City
Gianmarco Chieregato Unknown
Andrew kuykendall Unknown
Chris Baldwin Unknown
Rankin
2011, Max Montgomery
Howard Schatz 2013, Bart Babinski
Danil Golovkin Unknown
Bela Borsodi 2011, Self-portrait
Tim Geaney
1975, Dennis Geaney. Lake Tahoe
Jacques Malignon
2014, Susie Mackenzie Malignon. Sagaponeck
Yves Lavallette
2008, Christope Berjot. Canary Islands
Timothy white Unknown
Jock McDonald Unknown
Andi Elloway Unknown
David Urbanke Unknown
FULL List of Artists included in exhibition
Adarsh Anand Alan Michael Braveman Alberto Alcocer Alex Bramall Alexey Galetskiy Alexi Lubomirski Alexo Wandael Amanda Friedman Andi Elloway Andreas H. Bitesnich Andrew Kuykendall Anthony Barboza Antoine Verglas Antonello & Roberto Patella Antonio Guccione Aram David Armin Zogbaum Art Kane Barbara Bordnick Barry Hollywood Barry Lategan Beate Hansen Bela Borsodi Benedict Redgrove Benjamin Kanarek Bernie Abramson Bico Stupakoff Bill Connors Bob Gruen Bob Willoughby Brad Triffitt Brian Duffy Brian Bowen Smith Bruce McBroom Bruce Soyez-Bernard Bruno Gaget
Burak Isseven Casey Kelbaugh Chester Maydole Chris Baldwin Chris Craymer Chris Santos Christophe von Hohenberg Christopher Logan Chuck Baker Claude Nori Claudia Veizaga Clive Arrowsmith Cristiano Miretti Crystal Renn Cyril Lagel Danil Golovkin Darren Ankenman David Drebin David Leslie Anthony David Needleman David Roemer David Urbanke Dean Isidro Denis Piel Dewey Nicks Diego Uchitel Dimitri TolstoĂŻ Don Penny Douglas Foulke Douglas Kirkland Dusan Elinor Carucci Else Ernestine Neulander Erwin Blumenfeld Fabio Chizzola Fadil Berisha
Felix Lammers Fernand Fonssagrives Frances Tulk-Hart Francesco Scavullo George Barkentin Georges Dambier Gian Paolo Barbieri Gianmarco Chieregato Gideon Lewin Gio Barto Gleb Derujinksy Glenn Embree Greg Lotus Gyslain Yarhi Harold Krieger Herbert Matter Horst P. Horst Howard Schatz Ian Abela J. Frederick Smith Jacques Malignon Jaime Lopez Jake Chessum James Porto Jamie Isaia Jason Bell JD Forte Jeff Forney Jerry Schatzberg Jock McDonald Jonas Bresnan Jordan Matter Josie Borain Kenneth Willardt Kevin Kim KT Auleta
Lev Efimov Lionel Deluy & Pucette Lukasz Pukowiec Marc Collins Marco Grizelj & Kristian Krän Marcus May Margaret Durow Marili Forastieri Mario Casilli Mark Laita Markus Pritzi Mel Karch Melanie Acevedo Melanie Galea Melvin Sokolsky Meredith Jenks Michael Baumgarten Michael Doster Michael Hauptman Michelle Ferrara Mikhil Saluja Miles Aldridge Mitchel Gray Morgan Norman Neal Barr Neil Stewart Ngoc Minh Ngo Nicholas Routzen Norman Parkinson Oliviero Toscani Onofrio Paccione Otto Fenn Otto Stupakoff Palma Kolansky Pam Barkentin Blackburn Pamela Hanson
Pasquale de Antonis Patrice Casanova Patrick Chapuis Patrick McMullan Patrick Walter Patrik Andersson Paul Hesse Perry Hagopian Peter Augustin Petrina Tinsley Piero Gemelli Platon Rahul Dutta Rainer Hosch Ralph Gibson Rames Xelhuantzi Rankin Riccardo de Antonis Richard Ballarian Rico Puhlmann Roberto Centamore Roberto Ligresti Robin Broadbent Roger Neve Ron Contarsy Rose Hartman Rowland Scherman Sabine Villiard Sandro Morriconi Sarra Fleur Abou-El-Haj Sean Moorman Sean Smith Shannon Sinclair Shaun Alexander Sheila Metzner Sid Avery
Sigrid Rothe Simon Brown Simon Upton Sophie Elgort Stan Malinowski Stan Wan Stephane Coutelle Steve Erle Steve Schofield Stewart Ferebee Stuart Weston Susan Bowlus Susanna Howe Sylvere Azoulai Tarun Khiwal Ted Allan Tim Geaney Tim Morris Tim Petersen Timothy Greenfield-Sanders Timothy White Tom Contrino Tommaso Gesuato Toni Meneguzzo Tony McGee Torkil Gudnason Uli Rose Victor Skrebneski Wallace Seawell Walter Kober William Helburn William Heuberger Willy Rizzo Xandra M. Linsin Yves Lavallette Zack Zhang
Acknowledgements In 1975, my parents’ home was used as a location for an Abercrombie & Fitch fashion shoot. During a break, I approached the photographer, Alan Braveman, to ask how does one become a location scout. “Well kid, I’m busy photographing, but come into the city next week and I will treat you to lunch at Brownies and give you a crash course.” Alan’s kindness started me on my path. By 1977 I had my own portfolio and met with creative director Nesta David to show her my locations. In a year’s time I was assisting her. She turned a little girl from Long Island into a young professional in Manhattan. From Nesta, I learned all aspects of the photo shoot, from being punctual to casting models, preparing the set and editing film; that job was an incessant source of knowledge. My career took on a different path in 1980, when Joey Hunter, Director of Ford Men and Vice President of Ford Models, hired me as a fourth agent at the men’s division. That time was fabulous fun, working with the world’s most handsome men. Following my stint at Ford Men came the opportunity to work with another very charming man, Mr. John Casablancas, when I joined the Elite Board at Elite Model Management. What came next, however, was the biggest gift, of working with the best of the best, Eileen and Jerry Ford, creators of the modern day modeling agency, Ford Models. For 27 years I was a member of the Ford family, going from agent on their ‘high board’ to Vice-President and Director of Ford II, Ford Classic, Plus, Parts and Archives. I loved Eileen and Jerry and would not have had my charmed life without them. Along the way, I got to meet a most brilliant person, who also became a great friend, Mr. Kohle Yohannan, a cultural historian. I observed as he worked with prestigious museums, wrote books and lectured. I tried to take in every ounce of wisdom he so graciously shared. Since 2010, I am fortunate to have joined Corinne Nicolas, President of Trump Models, and combine our efforts to create Trump Legends and the IconicFocus Board. I am so grateful for this new journey, collaborating with some of the most talented people in the world. One of these people is Amelie Airault de Andreis, Director of Photography at Condé Nast in France, whose knowledge and grace is as vast as the Condé Nast archive.
Embarking on this project “The Reflected Eye” has been a true blessing—and an unprecedented amount of work. None of this would have been possible without the combined efforts of Doreen Small, our ever-able legal counsel, and the Totem Creative team. To Totem Creative and Dune Studios and Jay Stradwick, thank you for being the big machine behind the little engine. For bringing everyone’s photographs and words into a unified exhibit, I would like to thank and acknowledge Karen Boltax, our editor. Finally and most importantly, I would like to thank Mr. Phillip Odom, a friend and talented colleague, whose vision made all of this possible. Mr. Odom takes chances and sees adventure waiting in each new project that is presented to him. Moreover, he was able to listen to my ideas and turn them into a real project. Thank you Phillip, without you, none of this would have ever happened. I dedicate this show to the memory of my parents, Frances and Leon Sicular, who taught me to see beauty; to the always sweet and fun Nina Blanchard; the ever-so charming Johnny Casablancas and the dearest of dear teachers, Eileen and Jerry Ford. Patty Sicular Acknowledgments edited by Gabriel Ruas Santos-Rocha April 18, 2015
Special acknowledgements go to Else Ernestine Neulander, a.k.a. YVA—1900-1942. Else, a German fashion and beauty photographer, died in a concentration camp in 1942. Her assistant, Helmut Newton, escaped in 1938.