Pulitzer Arts Foundation Designed by Tadao Ando
I never wanted a life, I wanted to live.
The photographer’s perfect experience is akin to seeing light enter all 58 facets (“the round brilliant cut”)of a diamond”: My light, God’s light, what’s the difference as long as it is perfect.
Tadao Ando in my New York Studio
Everyday I lift my camera, I never want to imagine hearing an aching Marlon Brando “I coulda been a contender…”. I merely want to experience what it feels like to make a flawless photograph.
One day in St Louis I realized I was near to making the most elegant portrait in my career. I was instructing my subject to step to the rise in this gallery space. This doyenne of society strode upwards step by step. I encouraged her to step just below the rise. I imagined my light might see Hydra’s nine heads. I imagined my light might see Cruella de Vil. Instead I saw the 58 facets of perfection. Emily Pulitzer presented herself regally to my lens. She stood married to Ellsworth Kelly’s “Blue Black” painting. The framing was majestic. I snapped the shutter.
The portrait session was a bit tense. She was a bit guarded. We talked about my portrait sessions of her architect (for the Pulitzer Arts Foundation)the great Tadao Ando. I suggested to her that in the moment the artists in her galleries, Ellsworth Kelly and Richard Serra may be the art worlds best ambassadors. We found common ground. The pressure disappeared.
How Richard Serra, Ellsworth Kelly, and Tadao Ando came together to share the Pulitzer Arts Foundation story is Ms. Pulitzer’s to tell. My story is much simpler. I merely made snaps of these four unique personalities.
Richard Serra Sculpture for The Pulitzer Arts Foundation
Richard Serra in his New York Studio
My visit to the St. Louis “Foundation”enabled me to walk the corridors of visual delights. I roamed as one might through the ruins of the Acropolis, through the luxuries of art in the Louvre. I wouldn’t compare the Pulitzer to either aforementioned. But when you are alone in art institutions (I have had the good fortune to walk unattended the corridors of the Tate, the Louvre, the Hermitage, the Prado, and many more…)you begin to think the likes of Carlos Castaneda or Lewis Carroll have set your axons and neurons on fire. It is dreamily scary and uplifting. The moments allow you to commune with the imaginative minds of Picasso, Raphael, Goya, Velazquez and a million other creative geniuses.
What you realize spectacularly about genius, is that forces from unknown intellectual universes of the mind are at work. Emily Pulitzer brought three genius minds to St Louis.
St Louis seemed to have died in 1893. The Chicago World’s Fair seemed to eclipse (at the time) everything west of Chicago. The world focused east. Some people today say, God Bless The St Louis Cardinals for the city’s revival. Maybe the Pulitzer’s among a few saved the city. I don’t know. But there is something there that is quite unique. I think St Louis is an interesting city. Yes it has the Saarinen Arch. But there is much more: Exquisite examples of architecture, culture and social and political mores that are quite rich. Possibly a broader conversation for another blog.
THE FOUR DIAMONDS:
My photography life has not been about the universe, the big theme. Instead I have always felt married to singular moments in time.
My afternoon with Richard Serra was brutal. He was brutal. But I was rewarded by his no holds barred concentration on what mattered to him: the artist making art. I was along for the ride while he made his art. I was allowed to be with him in his moment. It stays with you sometimes like that constant beating sound in an MRI exam.
Ellsworth Kelly who I had photographed a couple of times interpreted his no holds barred. He declared “his space, his time, his art”. He may have loved my portraits. But nothing took the place of making his art uninterrupted.
Tadao Ando has created masterpieces across the planet, but nothing interrupts his process. My multiple sessions with him are precious to me because for him no holds barred is about life itself. Maybe that is among the many reasons he was considered a brawler. To the end he will declare his singular independence within the quietude of his work.
Emily Pulitzer let me know when her time was up. Do what I want she intimated. She had me understand, her time like Ando, Serra and Kelly was precious. Her effective strength fills a space like no other. It seems “no holds barred” is a rallying expression for the four unique personalities.
Alone, I sauntered, I waltzed. Alone I was mesmerized by the presence of four souls who impressed me like few others. Alone and alive, I realize the breadth of my moments, cameras in hand.
Ellsworth Kelly in his New York Studio