Happy Hog Rot

Here is a 1967 photo of Mark (recently passed away), taken by one of my early mentors, Ralph Gibson (whose hand also appears with Mark’s in this photograph).  She refers to this photograph as “The Enchanted Hand”.  Mark says that she and Gibson once shared a darkroom in the Chelsea Hotel in New York. In notes to one of Mark’s books, I see that Ralph gave her some of the same advice about lens choices and shooting technique that he gave me when I  saw him in California in 1973.  

photo by Ralph Gibson

Mark Ellen Mark died on Monday.  Her documentary work came along early in my photographic career — we were of the same generation — and served as a great influence to me.  This is just one of many images that I will not forget:

Beautiful Emine posing, Trabzon, Turkey, 1965. Photo by Mary Ellen Mark

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/arts/design/mary-ellen-mark-photographer-who-documented-difficult-subjects-dies-at-75.html

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/mary-ellen-mark/

Herman, an old friend from Kansas City, reminds me, following my posts about Lynsey Addario, that David Douglas Duncan came out of Kansas City and was recently the topic of this very interesting Kansas City Star piece:

http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/books/article21602583.html

Duncan was one of the most important war photographers of the 20th century.  He was a Marine officer covering World War II, Korean War and the VietNam War; was a former Life photographer; and is also noted for his work in other subjects (for example, I have his 1969 Self-Portrait: U.S.A. book).

And I enjoyed Duncan’s Picasso photos, like this one:

photo by David Douglas Duncan

A while back, we caught interviews on Charlie Rose, Fresh Air, the PBS NewsHour and elsewhere of Lynsey Addario, a “conflict” (i.e., war zone, etc.) photographer who has covered situations in almost every global trouble spot, from Africa to Afghanistan and much more) of the past fifteen or so years. Notified Friday by the local library that my special order of several weeks ago for her memoir had arrived, I eagerly picked it up, concluding my read yesterday and turning it over to my wife for a turn.

I soon got past my initial reaction that it was something of a self-serving (probably by definition what autobiographical work is intended to be) piece that had the benefit of hindsight, realizing that I had found a real page-turner. More than once, it inspired tears. I kept thinking that surely this one could be adapted as a movie, and, sure enough, last night a little research showed that Steven Spielberg is slated to direct, with Jennifer Lawrence to play Addario’s part.  (Not sure when it is to be released.)

Discovering this book, by the way, came about shortly after we happened to watch “A Thousand Times Good Night”, a 2013 Norwegian/Irish film directed by Eric Poppe (and inspired by his own experience as a war journalist) and starring Juliette Binoche as an obsessed war photographer.

While we’re at it, you should know about the stunning “War Photography”, a 2001 documentary film on the work of acclaimed photographer, James Nachtwey.   Also see this previous post. 

See Addario’s website: http://www.lynseyaddario.com/

And learn more about her book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L9B7CSM/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb

Old phototog sidekick Bill, himself a former pro surfing photographer, sends along this link to an article on the work of Doug Falter.  Just one example ….

Photo by Doug Falter in Huffington Post