Greg Gorman
EXPOSITION “RETROSPECTIVE” du 7 Mai au 31 Juillet 2001
GREG GORMAN in
his foreword to Greg Gorman's third book, Inside Life, director John Waters
expresses that Gorman makes people feel happy not just about being photographed,
but about being famous.With Herb Ritts and Annie Leibovitz, he is among the
most famous of modern portrait and celebrity photographers.
Gorman's induction into the world of photography came about largely by chance.
In 1968, he borrowed a friend's camera to shoot Jimi Hendrix in concert; two
weeks later, he did the same for a Doors show. Gorman was hooked, and entered
a photojournalism course at the University of Kansas. Later, he relocated
to the University of Southern California where he studied film; but his path
had already been chosen. Those fledgling efforts focused on celebrity –
today his pictures offer glimpses of the famous being themselves.
Gorman has forged his own niche in contemporary photography. His portraits
never date: their appeal lies in their ability to unmask the celebrity personality
while still preserving the fantasy of the dream factory. "For me the
eyes are pretty much the window of the soul, so maybe it's about capturing
the more vulnerable side of a personality," he says. "Sometimes
I'll tell a story about a person by revealing less of them rather than more,
leaving more to the imagination."
He is a purist and hard lighting, minimal sets, black and white. This allows
his subjects room to fully express themselves but Gorman creates the conditions
in which they can really fly. No matter what they do, he makes them look better.
Favoring tungsten, strobe and natural light, Gorman's lighting choices are
always flattering and appropriate."For me it's the talent's time as much
as it's my time and it doesn't suit either one of us to publish a negative
picture."
The Canon EOS 1 is still Gorman's camera of choice for more spontaneous shoots;
a medium format camera, usually a Hasselblad, is used for more static portraits.
Besides being at the forefront of the fame game, Gorman’s directed music
videos and commercials, shot ad campaigns, movie posters and album/cd covers.
One of his stand-out assignments was the award-winning l.a. Eyeworks campaign.
It brought a sense of irony and style to a medium better known for crass commercialism.
Trademark Gorman, it combined all his trump cards-distinctive lighting, hard
glamour, humor, and of course, behind the shades, celebs such as Divine, Grace
Jones and Andy Warhol. Gorman the artist cannot be separated from Gorman the
people person. His gregarious nature and easy relationship with his subjects
infuses his work with humor: Jeff Koons couldn’t look more at home sandwiched
between two butts; Antonio Banderas abandons sanity with explosive results.
Trust is also important.
His nude work combines sensitivity with allure – Iman looks like a goddess,
Brigitte Nielsen an inter-galactic stray. Both exist in a realm of fantasy,
yet they are unmistakably for real. Based in Los Angeles, Gorman’s eminence
as a photographer is almost surpassed by his fame as a culinary whiz –
he loves to bring people together and his dinner parties are legendary.
His friends are his subjects and his subjects often become his friends. For
this reason he’s selective about editorial work: “I don’t
do too much magazine work because they know I have a close relationship with
the people that I photograph and consequently they’re afraid of that.
They want a photographer they can manipulate and I’m not about to be
controlled by some magazine that’s looking for an off-kilter image of
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
People are integral to his art. For Gorman the work stays fresh with new people,
good energy, great concepts. I love synthesizing and I think my energy and
my excitement grows from being in stimulating conversations, being around
people that are constantly being creative and pushing for new ideas and new
horizons. I think that’s what keeps me going.” Whether he’s
capturing the insouciance of Mark Wahlberg or the freak in David Bowie, it’s
his exacting standards that are essential in the art of portraiture. “I
think that most people you hear about in the entertainment business who are
‘difficult people’ are not necessarily difficult, they’re
just perfectionists. I think they haven’t got where they are by being
yes people.
When I was first getting pictures back with proof sheets I would see mistakes
that I was aware of at the time I was shooting and could have changed but
I didn’t speak up. Now I’m probably a little bit more verbal.”
Gorman got his start shooting the likes of Bowie and Streisand, Bette Midler
and Dustin Hoffman. Among his favorite subjects have been Leonardo Di Caprio,
Sophia Loren and Bette Davis and among his nude models, the notorious Tony
Ward.
Part of the Hollywood machine, Gorman has been in the privileged position
of witnessing the process of star-making (and breaking). When asked whether
shooting Di Caprio early in his career he saw signs of things to come, he
says, “Oh, I knew he was going to be massive. I’d seen him in
This Boy’s Life and I knew he was going to be a huge star. I think most
people did. They recognized there was an enormous talent there, and capacity
for growth and development. Leo acts in front of a still camera like he does
in front of a movie camera: he’s alive and electric and he goes for
having a good time. I think that’s why many of the photos you see of
Leo are very interesting pictures.
” For Gorman there is an element of make-believe in the role photography
plays in culture and that’s why his humor, that kooky, quirky glamour,
is so important: “Being able to relax and poke fun at yourself allows
a person to not take what we do for a living so seriously. There is a certain
amount of humor in glamorizing and fantasizing these people when in reality
you know the person on another level – most of them are much different
to the persona they portray to the public.
These pictures are going to be around a lot longer than any of us.”
So, do photographers in the late 20th century, and particularly in Hollywood,
make stars as well as photograph them? “I think so, to a certain degree.
We’re certainly part of the process of creating some of the images that
are larger than life, and giving people a profile that perhaps they haven’t
seen before.
” While Gorman’s work documents that peculiar obsession of the
20th century – celebrity- his photography is timeless and not confined
to has-beens, hot properties, and wannabes. Each shot gives a picture of human
nature in its infinite range. Each picture is also a testament to the individual
character. For me a photograph is most successful when it doesn’t answer
all the questions,” says Gorman, “ and it leaves something to
be desired.” Alex Craig and Andrew Stafford from Black + White “The
Masters” For over two decades, Greg Gorman has continued to master the
art of photography.
From personality portraits and advertising campaigns to magazine layouts and
fine art work, Mr. Gorman has developed and showcased a discriminating and
unique style in his profession. In 1990, CPC Publishing released his first
solo book, Greg Gorman Volume One, which features his stark black and white
personality portraits in addition to his more personal work with male and
female nudes. This book follows the 1986 photographic anthology, Visual Aid,
published by Pantheon Books. In December 1992, Treville Press published Greg
Gorman Volume Two , a collection of his male and female nudes. Inside Life,
a retrospective of Mr.
Gorman's work from 1968-1996 was released by Rizzoli International Publishers
in 1996. Currently in production is a book of Mr.Gorman's fine art male nudes
being published by Powerhouse Books with a Fall 2000 release date. His fine
art work is represented worldwide by the Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles.
Mr. Gorman currently has several shows of his photographic works touring the
United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. In addition to gallery exhibitions,
his work has recently been exhibited in museum shows such as the Scavi Scaligeri,
in Verona, the Palacio Pombal in Lisbon, and “The Ghost in the Shell
“ exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Mr.
Gorman directed his first music video for Capitol Records recording artist,
Grace Jones. "Love on Top of Love" was voted one of the top ten
videos of the decade in Germany. He has also directed two commercials with
Brooke Shields for Elleseine health spas in Japan. Recently, Mr. Gorman directed
the music video "Jingle Bells" for Disney Studios featuring Swiss
recording artist, Dieter Meier. One of Mr. Gorman's strengths has been photographing
motion picture and music personalities.
His work has been used for film advertising and publicity campaigns as well
as album covers. Some of the motion picture celebrities that he has photographed
include Leonardo Di Caprio, Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, John Travolta,,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Pacino, Sharon Stone, Kim Basinger, Pierce Brosnan,
Bette Davis, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise, Antonio
Banderas, Elizabeth Taylor,, Marlon Brando, Ben Kingsley, Sophia Loren, Alec
Baldwin, Johnny Depp and Jessica Lange.
In the music field, Mr. Gorman has worked with Michael Jackson, David Bowie,
Bette Midler, Iggy Pop, Frank Zappa, Motley Crue, Elton John, Joni Mitchell,
Bryan Ferry, The Judds, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Travis Tritt, Debbie Harry,
Billy Idol, Melissa Etheridge, Joe Cocker, Ru Paul, Grace Jones and Dolly
Parton.
Some of Mr. Gorman's more visible efforts have been seen in connection with
the motion picture industry. A partial list of the films that he has generated
graphics and publicity for include “The Thomas Crown Affair”,
"Tootsie", "The Big Chill", "Sex Lies and Videotapes",
"The Grifters", "No Way Out", "The Big Easy",
"Bull Durham", "Total Recall", "Last of the Mohicans",
"Beverly Hills Cop 3", "Speed", "Man in the Iron
Mask", "Johnny Mneumonic", "Play it to the Bone",
"Courage Under Fire", “Tomorrow Never Dies”, "Escape
from L.A." , "First Wives Club", "The Fan", and "Private
Parts".
In recent years, Mr. Gorman has expanded his talents into the advertising
field with campaigns for agencies such as Grey Advertising, Leo Burnett, Young
and Rubicam, tbwa/Chiat Day, Foote, Cone and Belding, D.D.B. Needham, and
McCann-Erikson. Specific campaigns have been produced for Levi’s, Rolex,
United Airlines, Colgate, L&M cigarettes (Japan), Reebok, Maybelline,
Gleem, Jose Cuervo, Dewar's, Kawasaki, Rembrandt, Eveready batteries, Juvena
(Germany), Otto Kern (Germany), Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Shiseido, Kohler, and
A T & T (U.S. and Germany).
Many of his advertising endeavors have enlisted the talents of celebrities
including his award-winning L.A. Eyeworks campaign. Portraits of Divine, Grace
Jones, Mickey Rourke, Andy Warhol, Patricia Hearst, John Waters, and David
Hockney have graced the pages of Interview, Out, Paper and Details for L.A.
Eyeworks. Marlee Matlin, Peggy Lipton, Joan Rivers, Eric Roberts and Sonia
Braga have been seen in Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Traveler for Go Silk. A series
of ads for Ron Ross included Rupert Everett, Deborah Harry, Leslie Ann Warren
and Daphne Zuniga.
Other campaigns include Leonardo Di Caprio for DDI Cellular (Japan), Cindy
Crawford for Foster Grant, Pierce Brosnan and Cindy Crawford for Omega watches.
Distribution of Mr. Gorman's photography has not been limited to the United
States. His work is consistently printed throughout the world in publications
such as GQ, L'uomo Vogue, Vogue Homme, German, French and Italian Max, Amica,
Tempo, Life, Esquire, Us, Interview, Detour, Vanity Fair, Time, Newsweek,
British GQ, British Esquire, American Photo, and Rolling Stone. Mr. Gorman
has lectured throughout the world at such venues as ICP in New York, University
of Kansas, UCLA, USC, Calumet Photo Show, the Art Institute of Kansas City,
and IADL Lisbon.
For eight consecutive years, Mr. Gorman conducted a week long seminar on portraiture
and figure study at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop. He currently conducts
a yearly workshop at the Toscana Photographic Workshop in Tuscany, Italy.
Born in 1949 in Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Gorman attended the University
of Kansas from 1967-69 with a major in photojournalism. He completed his studies
at the University of Southern California; graduating with a master of fine
arts degree in cinematography in 1972. He currently resides in Los Angeles,
California. Trish Swords January 2000
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