William Claxton - Photographic Memory

[KirkT]

This is a book my wife got me for Christmas.  It's such a fun photo book.  Lots and lots of photos of different people he shot over the years (50s to 00s) and a story to go with it; some storys are an entire page and some are just little blips.  

He has a great story about going to photograph Vincent Price for an art magazine (he was a HUGE art collector).  He was driving down the road in Hollywood to Vincent's place and a young guy asked him for a ride (nicer times, he reminds people).  He gave him a lift to his place and he didn't live far from Vincent so he squeezed off a few shot of this kid.  Claxton and Vincent later were talking and a knock on the door came.  Vincent started complaining that it was probably this wannabe artist/actor who lived down the street and was always asking for advice on his work.  The guy was awful but Vincent was too nice to say anything bad.  When Vincent opened the door, it turned out to be the guy he gave a ride to:  Dennis Hopper.

Lots of stories in his book like that.  

I've said it many time...this guy is great.

[Major Black]

LOL! Price was right! He's a better actor than a photographer, oh wait, he's a dirctor now, oh wait, he's a painter now...

Don't get me started on Hopper.

I get my hair cut in Beverly Hills. Yes, I still have hair! I often see the upper class walking the streets, looking at art in Gaggosian, etc. One day I saw two older people who looked, well, not like they were dressed like your typical Beverly Hills Elite. It took a second and I realized that it was William Claxton and his muse Peggy Moffit!

[KirkT]

That's so cool!  

I love his photography because it seems so honest and real.  His photos really seem to capture the essence of the person he's photographing.