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60’S CELEBRITIES

Photographing Celebrities In the Sixties

During this time I also took photographs at celebrity press parties because I wanted to be part of the glamorous world which I had seen in media all my life. The famous and would-be-famous went to be seen, publicized, glamorized, and admired. No one was really having fun. It was an ego trip. Hollywood celebrities had no real relationship to my life…

At one awards ceremony Dustin Hoffman told me how ridiculous he thought these events were, and he was obviously uncomfortable about having to be there. We were in a room with chintzy flowered wallpaper, rows of chairs with the actors’ names pasted on them, and the actors were lined up like cattle going to slaughter. The absurdity of the star culture with its hero worship, prize awards, and contrived media coverage seemed obvious to us both.

The photographs that came from these events were often ridiculous, to the point of being humorous. I never meant to take a “bizarre” picture of anyone: they happened by chance and showed me more about what was going on at those parties than I realized while I was there. The camera saw more than I did. It penetrated the illusion of glamour.”