Photography and Auctions

The year that would have been his 75th, is now being noted and celebrated by Elvis Presley fans. Fortunately, there are a selection of photographs by photographer Wertheimer of Elvis at age 21 that are available for viewing for those who cannot afford to buy the Welcome Books new entry nor travel to the exhibitions featuring the pictures.

Even more intriguing is the slideshow, A Look Inside, that is offered at the Elvis, 1956 site and displays  68 pictures from the book, including an expanded number of alternate views that comprise the situation now known as   'the kiss.' Perhaps more touching are the pictures of a fan apparently in New York City wearing a hat (Number 30 and 31), who must have been given an autograph by Elvis, and who is visibly overcome after he moves on.

The following are events and locations for exhibitions (with differing names); the show  will travel for three years.

The Corcoran Museum in Washington is holding a photography exhibit that is distant from the usual core of subjects: the public figures of Avedon, an Ansel Adams landscape, a Robert Frank portfolio of Americans, etc.

Edward Burtynsky: Oil from Corcoran Gallery of Art on Vimeo

"This touring exhibition surveys a decade of photographic imagery exploring the subject of oil by artist Edward Burtynsky. The Canadian photographer has traveled internationally to chronicle the production, distribution, and use of this critical fuel. In addition to revealing the rarely-seen mechanics of its manufacture, Burtynksy photographs the effects of oil on our lives, depicting landscapes altered by its extraction from the earth and by the cities and suburban sprawl generated around its use. He also addresses the coming "end of oil," as we confront its rising cost and dwindling availability. This exhibition, premiering in the capital city of the United States in Fall 2009, represents a look at one of the most important subjects of our time by one of the most respected and recognized contemporary photographers in the world."

"Burtynsky's photographs, printed at large scale, render his subjects with transfixing clarity of detail. His extensive exploration is organized thematically: aerial views of oil fields, the architecture of massive refineries, highway interchanges ribboning across the landscape, and motorculture aficionados at automotive events. In considering the consequences of oil use, the artist has photographed a series of arresting landscapes: derelict oil derricks, vistas of junked vehicles, recycling yards, and mammoth oil-tanker shipbreaking operations. Edward Burtynsky: Oil promises to be the definitive photographic documentation of this much debated subject."

"Consisting of approximately 55 color landscapes, Edward Burtynsky: Oil will encompass a kind of modern-day “lifecycle” of the energy source that has shaped the modern world. The project will feature many new works, most never-before-exhibited. A major catalogue, published by acclaimed German publisher Steidl, will accompany the exhibition."

The photographs can also be seen at the Hasted, Hunt Kraeutler Gallery at 537 West 24th Street, New York City

The President of the US, delivered a speech that dovetails with this exhibit, at least in our mind:

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One rarely sees pictures of the photographer Dorothea Lange. The woman she photographed who became the face of the Depression is the migrant woman, Florence Owens Thompson. But it is the photo taken by Lange's husband, the economist Paul Schuster Taylor, of Lange herself atop the roof and hood of a car that is striking in its own way and a reminder of their own relationship.

An excerpt from "Face to Face with Paul and Dorothea," Professor Emeritus Clark Kerr's memory of the couple, printed in a California Alumni Association, California Monthly:

Although Paul's original interest in Dorothea stemmed from his conception of the camera as a tool of research, their relationship became far more than a professional collaboration. It became a great love affair. Paul later said: "It was always a wonderful thing to see her. Always. Just to come into the room where she was." Years later, I would visit Paul in the old redwood house on Euclid Avenue which Dorothea had chosen for them. As Paul played Beethoven softly on his hi-fi set, we would talk about being on the ground in the Thirties. Dorothea's name would come up and Paul would sit there with tears streaming down his face as I recalled his tender words - "just to come into the room where she was."

But back to Florence Owens Thompson, in Lange's own words:

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Digital Journalist has featured a gallery of photographs from Douglas Kirkland's book, Freeze Frame. There are revealing pictures of John Lennon in Spain, one of Jeanne Moreau on Hollywood Boulevard, director Herb Ross holding aloft ballerina Leslie Browne as Baryshnikov looks on and Director James Cameron instructing Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on the set of Titanic. The photos of Kirkland with his subjects are memorable in their own way.

Kirkland's wife, Françoise, lets you into the world their assignments provided:

"We got involved in the lives of our subjects, sometimes spending weeks at a time with them. Julie Christie took me shopping at Biba, the hip store in Swinging London. Brigitte Bardot ignored me, wanting Douglas all to herself. While we were sitting with John Lennon in a minibus in Hamburg a mob of fans arrived and rocked the bus. We stayed up all night discussing politics with Melina Mercouri and her Greek refugee friends. On the set of A Countess From Hong Kong, Marlon Brando delighted in teasing me and making me blush, while on Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, Robert Redford and I discussed love and philosophy between takes. Once when Douglas and I tramped through the corridors of the Beverly Hills Hotel with our photo equipment, well-appointed guests complained to the management about the hippies really taking over!"

Read her account in My Lover, My Life, view the gallery and introduction by Kirkland from Freeze Frame.