Norman Lear The king of Television
Georgia O’Keefe once said;
“It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest”. I think about that line often. I think about when I was supposed to photograph her. I think how she painted. I think about how she lived. I think about that line often. When a god’s millenniums reaches up and grabs you, it is time to asses the value of a life lived. I was a child when I first looked through a camera. It felt so odd to be so young and feel so aged simultaneously. Maybe the memory of the Minox, Stereo Camera, Contax ,Nikons and Pentax 67 remind me of my photography film history. I never had to travel to look back on where I have been. But where I have been metaphorically and geographically has enlivened my spirits in a way that is unique to me. Imagine a jellyfish slip-sliding above and between your organs. Imagine the moment the jellyfish slightly stings your heart. Imagine life’s pleasures dancing in your mind. The stimulating shock is what makes us human. It is why that moment in time charges every blood vessel within reach to burn through my memory bank and say thank you.
Hollywood Babylon is sort of a catchphrase for filmdom’s past debauchery. One phase of my career brought me to filmdoms’ Hollywood to capture an assemblage of art collectors. Cinematic lore was at my fingertips. I was anticipating discovering the truths behind Errol Flynn’s stealth passages at his Beverly Hills home. Maybe Charlie Chaplins’ secrets from his sailboat? Just possibly more conservatively, I wanted to know how Hollywoods machine worked. Joan Didion inferred there is less there than we need to know.
The great art collections of Edward G Robinson, Vincent Price, Billy Wilder and more were diminished by bitter divorces. The next generation of Hollywood aficionados: Michael Ovitz, Norman Lear and dozens more sat for my camera. The Hollywood poseurs always turned the conversation towards me and my life photographing all of the artists in “their” collections”. I am convinced that I was a naked pawn in a game I was not aware of. It was always a presumption that I knew more than my subjects did about art. They studied every brush stroke, I only snapped the shutter speed. Every subject massaged my ego. It always seemed as if Johann Strauss’ “Blue Danube” enveloped the rooms. We waltzed. Hollywood led, I followed. A funny history I remember.
Henry Miller once said;
He was “alive in a dream”. I always felt dreams were my reality. My inspirations as always come from the possibilities that there is a truth in film. Films like “Make Way For Tomorrow”, “Diva”, or even “Dingo”were not masterpieces. (Though it was said somewhere that “Make Way For Tomorrow” was Orson Welles favorite film.) In movies I found heart, a visual gasp, and sound. I almost always exited the screen feeling that my life is a dream, and I am living it. Sometimes I felt emboldened by the moment. It was as if the jellyfish was tingling my senses.
Norman Lear:
He was my first stop. I remember driving through the homes of Brentwood. This day predated Steve Martin’s Grand Canyon movie where all of the characters were afraid of anyone that did not look like themselves. This moment was a ride through a serenity laden paradise. “Mr. Lear is waiting for you”. “All in the Family” and too many years in front of the tube danced between my ears. I was a pleasure seeker walking into a piece of heaven. No kinder person has sat before my camera than Norman Lear. I have mentioned many times in my blogs that my poseurs wanted to know more about me than they would share about themselves. Maybe they were uncertain how to explain their art collecting. Maybe this was a privacy turn. I will never know. The most famous person in television was sharing his home and his time. I gave him my most nimble dance. I displayed all of my tools of lighting. The morning felt like a stream of evanescent lighting. The end was near. I told Norman the session was complete. He placed his hat on his head. We walked hand in hand. I made a few snaps from room to room. We visually touched 20 to 30 pieces of art. “I never thought I would ever have so many beautiful things”. The lone confession put all of the salacious debauchery I imagined to rest. Art mattered.
Daniel Melnick:
Producer Daniel Melnick seemed to check all of the boxes. He was famous. He produced “Straw Dogs”, “All That Jazz” and “Altered States” among many. I felt he was the guy to chat about my love for film. He was very proud. His accomplishments reigned, His home movie center was fabulous. He loved his world. We didn’t get too much of a chance to discuss his art collecting or movies. The pleasantries and platitudes rained on the afternoon. We stood in front of one of his mementos from his collecting days. He suggested we should make the Lichtenstein my moment. After that shot we walked a bit. Took in the scenery. He took a step back and asked me if I wanted to shoot the stills for “Air America” starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. Without hesitation I said yes!!! In the end I didn’t get the job. Hollywood is made up of some unique bedfellows. I never mastered Hollywood speak. Melnick did have a great home.
Thom Mount:
Thom Mount is one of the few Hollywood personalities whose personality seemed to embody his “Bull Durham” star Kevin Costner. I enjoyed that film enormously. I am a huge Baseball fan. The plot line romanticized the game with great humor and style. I never met Kostner, but Thom Mount seemed to have a Kostner-esque built into his mannerisms. For the most part I am with my subjects sometimes for 5 minutes and sometimes for many hours. There was something endearing and smart about Thom. His other films like “The Indian Runner” and “Death And The Maiden” (both of which I liked) didn’t seem to have the producers character winking at you. Bull Durham’s Crash Davis and Thom Mount were like twins on a dance floor. He was so much fun to watch and listen to. We spoke about shooting stills on the sets. “You are a portrait photographer, shooting amazing people”. I know, but I love film. It might be interesting to be the next great Cinematographer Robby Müller…or Cinematographer Richard Schulman. I told him that Frederick Elmes once invite me to a set while he was shooting. After about fifteen minutes, I ran out like Eduard Munch’s “The Scream”. My god what was I thinking. Hundreds of people about. The thought of claustrophobia almost killed me. Mount continued the tour of his collection. He was a terrific guide, and a fabulous personality. So many years later I still enjoy diving into dozens or hundreds of films with gluttonous pleasure. But the lingering feeling about Hollywood is that it leaves me a bit apart. It is as if I am dangling my toes from a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As my toes dip deeper into the waters, I am frightened and curious at once. I scream asking, what is down there in that abyss known as Hollywood.
Norman Lear at his home 1988
Producer Daniel Melnick with Lichtenstein sculpture
Thom Mount