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After all these years of making pictures, I am often asked “What is your favourite photograph? (Canadian spelling) The answer is always the same: It is “The Goose” Bronx 1958. It was made on an assignment for a New York Times story on the Teamsters Union. As so often happened this photograph was not used in the final story, but in those days and still, I sold only one time rights to my work and retained copyright.. probably more important, the image didn’t disappear into an electronic file. There were none then. It was put into an archival negative envelope with a star next to it. That meant “Pay attention to me!” and I did.

I think it was first exhibited on the bulletin board of Professional Camera Repair, Marty Forscher’s shop on West 47th Street. My idea was to share stuff I liked with the many colleagues who were in an out of this wondrous place. That was a sharing time.

You will probably think “What’s so special about that picture? Well, to me it incorporates everything that is important about photography.. capturing action, capturing a special moment, capturing life..you will notice I didn’t mention ART. That wasn’t important then. The wonder of reality was important.

In the late fifties I started doing serious projects for the U.S. Information Agency, including the County Agent Exhibition, The MIT Essay and The Atoms for Peace exhibition. I worked for Yoichi Okamoto the director of photography. He eventually became the official photographer for President Lyndon Johnson and in that post created an extraordinary visual narrative.

On the last day of the Johnson administration Oke wrote me a letter on White House Stationery. He told me that his favorite photograph, “The Goose, Bronx 1958″ hung on the wall in his office, just below the oval office. The reason was his wife wouldn’t have it hanging in their house!

“The Goose, Bronx 1958″ is now in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The International Center of Photography, NYC, & Musee d’art Contemporain de Montreal. There are a few prints available for sale, made and signed by me.

Yesterday I went online to witness a wondrous happening on YouTube. A top notch National Geographic photographer was demonstrating how he printed an entire exhibition of large prints. It only took an afternoon! To be fair he was working with superb scans made from his superb photographs on an awesome Epson printer. He could replicate those same prints with the same quality just by pushing a button!

I thought about working in my darkroom, printing from an excellent negative, and ending the day’s work with only one print that I would call “magic.” Of course the other keeper prints would be excellent as well, but the “magic” one is the one that works best for me. Often others disagree and choose another print from the same session – it’s “magic” for them, It’s a very personal choice.

I am printing less these days and only from negatives that I previously chose but never had time to print. Thinking about the magic of the digital age – just press the button – it’s a different kind of magic, and it’s a long way from my reality still.

In the coming months I will post some of these magic prints right here for you to see and collect if you are so inclined. As usual they will be available from me or any of my wonderful dealers… george

John F. Kennedy, Tammany Hall  NYC 1959

©George S. Zimbel 1959/2013

Printed by gsz 20/16″/2001 Log # 3114

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<img src=”http://www.georgezimbel.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/1.Boy-in-a-car-Nice-France-1953-LR.jpg” alt=”1.Boy in a car, Nice France 1953 LR” width=”1500″ height=”932″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-1628″ /

One of only four sets in this size printed by the artist on 24″/20″ Agfa Classic SG paper for a retrospective exhibition in 2000 at Institut Valencia D’Art Modern in Spain. Signed in pencil au verso. More recently exhibited at Musee Populaire de la Photo in Granby Quebec. There will be no others printed by me in this size. Works from this series are in the collections of Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Musee des Beaux Arts de Montreal, ICP, Brooklyn Museum, Norton Museum, Musee d’art et histoire de Luxembourg, Musee d’art Contemporain de Montreal, Musee des beaux-arts du Quebec, Confederation Arts Gallery & Museum.
For information contact George S Zimbel or one of his excellent dealers.

© George S. Zimbel 1954/2013

© George S. Zimbel 1954/2013

Look Left © George S. Zimbel 1954/2013

Get Down © George S. Zimbel 1954/2013

© The Toosh ©George S. Zimbel 1954/2013

The Flower ©George S. Zimbel 1954/2013

Backstory: These kids were our neighbors at 647 Second Avenue……Butch & Jub Jub by name. They were hustling spare change from the cab drivers who came in an out of the tire shop on the same block.
Butch was a bit agressive and if he didn’t think he received a proper handout, he was a pioneer in the use of the expression “Fuck you!!”
Printed on Dupont Sg paper 1966. Trimmed flush H 25cm/w 16.5cm, Monkmeyer stamp & signature au verso. Condition excellent. Small crack on lower left corner.
Contact George or one of his excellent dealers for price .

In 1960 I did not to go to the political conventions. I had done this in 1956 but I was tired although still a political junkie. I decided to watch the Nixon-Kennedy TV debate on my black & white television.

I quickly realized this debate was a game changer for political campaigns and raced to my storage cabinet, grabbed a tripod a camera and a cable release…all the time trying to remember the correct exposure for television.. ( It was 1/15th at f2.8 with TX.)

But after shooting a few frames I decided it was a boring exercise and almost quit when I realized that the camera 1/ camera 3 crossover might produce something interesting. Of course I didn’t know if I was right until I had developed the film, but on the other hand those negatives are still fine after 52 years..take that computer!

The series of five frames has become part of my “Still Movies” series and is now in the permanent collection of Musee d’art Contemporain de Montreal and has been exhibited in museum shows in Canada, U.S., Spain & Japan.

It will be up for auction at Swann Galleries in NYC on October 4. [ Item 153]. I will not be reprinting this or any of my Still Movies. There are less than ten copies extant .

Sometimes you get excited about a picture, make a print and put the negative in a “special place”..bad idea!. Recently as I checked five frames of Elaine from 1955 I noticed one at the end that was different . I took my magnifier out and shouted “Hooray”. I don’t know what a street scene was doing on the end of a strip of portraits of my dear wife, but there it was. It is now extant in three 16/20 SG prints..I immediately went into my lab and printed it on the new Ilford Art 300 paper which I am still testing. The original print was in my IVAM retrospective in 2000.

 

©George S. Zimbel 1955/2012