Subject
Fw: William Claxton's Vladimir Nabokov photos
From
Date
Body
EDITOR's Note: NABOKV-L thanks Rodney Welch for referring us to Caxton's VN photo.
-------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: rodney41@mindspring.com
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 12:27 PM
Subject: Re: William Claxton's Vladimir Nabokov photos
The photo in question can be found here: http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0103/wc23.htm Our man looks a bit like he stepped out of a Le Carre novel, no? Rodney Welch Columbia, SC
-----------------------------------------
On Mon, 26 Aug 2002 11:04:32 -0700 "D. Barton Johnson" wrote:
EDITOR's NOTE.═ If anyone sees a copy of this item, it would be nice to know what Claxton has to say about VN -- of anything.
------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: Sandy P. Klein
To: nabokv-l
═
═
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/25/arts/design/25WOOD.html
═
Catching the Light (and Heat) of the Stars
By RICHARD B. WOODWARD
ELEBRITY portraiture, like any kind of celebrity journalism, is usually an exercise in servility. The effort and cunning necessary to hunt down and bag big names can be exhausting, and the outcome more often than not is both ego-crushing and a waste of time. Even after a triumphant "get," the star's name flashes larger and brighter on the marquee than one's own, so that whatever glory is afforded the work emanates from bounced light.
Success in the field often depends as much on a willingness to flatter subjects and tolerate editorial meddling as it does on an original eye. Few photographers with artistic ambition find the business of fame, however lucrative, worth the aggravation in the long run.
William Claxton is an exception. For more than 50 years he has photographed luminaries, mostly in the worlds of music and film, and managed to seem unjaded, curious, his own man. He has shown uncommon good sense by choosing to photograph mainly those who appeal to his intriguing sense of style and glamour, most lovingly the postwar giants of jazz. But Marlene Dietrich, Samuel Fuller, Mia Farrow, Terry Southern, Burt Bacharach, Tuesday Weld, Vladimir Nabokov, John Cassavetes and Benicio Del Toro also have cameo roles in his latest book, "Photographic Memories" (Powerhouse), further proof of a developed, offbeat taste. His pictures of them, each tagged with a fitting anecdote, make a career spent shooting celebrities actually look as fun and sexy and interesting as it's supposed to be. Better-known now, at the age of 74, than at any time of his life, he has become a grandfather of California cool.
-------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: rodney41@mindspring.com
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 12:27 PM
Subject: Re: William Claxton's Vladimir Nabokov photos
The photo in question can be found here: http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0103/wc23.htm Our man looks a bit like he stepped out of a Le Carre novel, no? Rodney Welch Columbia, SC
-----------------------------------------
On Mon, 26 Aug 2002 11:04:32 -0700 "D. Barton Johnson" wrote:
EDITOR's NOTE.═ If anyone sees a copy of this item, it would be nice to know what Claxton has to say about VN -- of anything.
------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: Sandy P. Klein
To: nabokv-l
═
═
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/25/arts/design/25WOOD.html
═
Catching the Light (and Heat) of the Stars
By RICHARD B. WOODWARD
ELEBRITY portraiture, like any kind of celebrity journalism, is usually an exercise in servility. The effort and cunning necessary to hunt down and bag big names can be exhausting, and the outcome more often than not is both ego-crushing and a waste of time. Even after a triumphant "get," the star's name flashes larger and brighter on the marquee than one's own, so that whatever glory is afforded the work emanates from bounced light.
Success in the field often depends as much on a willingness to flatter subjects and tolerate editorial meddling as it does on an original eye. Few photographers with artistic ambition find the business of fame, however lucrative, worth the aggravation in the long run.
William Claxton is an exception. For more than 50 years he has photographed luminaries, mostly in the worlds of music and film, and managed to seem unjaded, curious, his own man. He has shown uncommon good sense by choosing to photograph mainly those who appeal to his intriguing sense of style and glamour, most lovingly the postwar giants of jazz. But Marlene Dietrich, Samuel Fuller, Mia Farrow, Terry Southern, Burt Bacharach, Tuesday Weld, Vladimir Nabokov, John Cassavetes and Benicio Del Toro also have cameo roles in his latest book, "Photographic Memories" (Powerhouse), further proof of a developed, offbeat taste. His pictures of them, each tagged with a fitting anecdote, make a career spent shooting celebrities actually look as fun and sexy and interesting as it's supposed to be. Better-known now, at the age of 74, than at any time of his life, he has become a grandfather of California cool.