Rob C,
Early in my career I ran across David Hamilton's work. He had been around a long time by then and all I saw was printed material in books and there was very little nudity. It was mostly ballerinas, and models in window light, which he was a master at. I think he was sponsored by the third largest camera company, which has been sold to another company.
BC
BC,
I have his book,
Twenty Five Years of an Artist, first published in '92.
In it, he recalls doing a show in America, and the room was full of young people. Almost all the hands were up in the air, folks wanting to pose questions. He says that he held up the camera, and said: one camera, one lens and always Ektachrome 200 film. At that, every hand went down. Apparently, nobody wanted to learn about art, technique, emotions or anything but camera and film brands.
You could say that now, twenty-four years later, not a lot has changed.
FWIW, in one shot, a mirror pic of himself and a model, he's sporting a Minolta slr.
In some ways, I wish I hadn't bought the book: he reveals some few personal character details I'd have lived more happily not knowing about him. Also, the book has more 'doubtful' images than I was expecting from the usual postcards and his seminal book,
Dreams of Young Girls, which I thought, at the tme, to be beautiful. From it I developed a love for French straw hats, amongst the most beautifully evocative props you can imagine, if you find the right ones! Not easy to do: they need a perfect balance of crown, brim and floral decoration, or they just look crass.
Yes, I suppose one could classify him, on a rough day, as a nostagic fantasist; but that said, I would personally prefer that title to being author of
some of the stuff on music videos that turns me right off, quite apart from the music itself.
Rob
