Greg Gorman: The Iconic Photographer that claims, "Its Not About Me"
The Immagis Gallery in Munich was the European launch of the delayed, due to covid, tour of Greg Gorman’s new show and book “It’s Not About Me”.
Well, what a title for a book full of intimate portraits of the most iconic celebrities of the last 50 years.
It is a retrospective of a career that is still ongoing as the album cover photo of Elton John’s latest release clearly shows. “It’s Not About Me”, is a look at people. It is a look through the lens of a legendary talent. I hate to tell you, Greg, it is all about you.
I have been lucky enough to have been on the other end of the lens from Greg on a couple of occasions. Having also been lucky enough to have had many talents in the photographic art space take portraits of me, let me start this tale of Greg Gorman as Hemingway would have wished, with my own experience.
When I walked into Greg’s studio in 2002, I was a young kid that felt very old. The world had become smaller for me after traveling around it a few times. Seven years in the fashion industry with the glamour and shooting with famous names, both alongside me and on the other side of the camera from me, I thought, made me a veteran.
That first day with Greg Gorman, gave me a glimpse of how much I did not know, about the business, and about famous names. Anthony Hopkins just happened to drop by to have lunch with us and look over some images Greg had taken of him, leaving me a bit starstruck, as just one example.
The shoot also taught me about life, when Greg and I would chat between shots about ideas and aspirations, politics and love.
When I first viewed the images that came from the camera wielded by Greg, I was shocked again. Even though the first viewing did not allow me to understand the full importance of the images. Don’t get me wrong! They were and are amazing, and I was and am very grateful, but it has been the years since then that the importance of the portraits in my life has come to bear.
Greg’s portraits seem so simple. It may even seem that there is nothing truly remarkable about them, at first glance. They seem like very nice images, but it is in time that you see the artistry that will endure. It is what they capture about the essence that makes them special. When you look a bit deeper at the image’s you see how truly special they are.
When I viewed the images on display at the gallery and in his book it really is breathtaking to see so many people that we think we know. We have seen them for years, many movies, tv shows, documentaries; then there are the portraits that Greg Gorman, and only Greg Gorman, could take.
Each one comes with its story. Each story, like each person and each portrait is a personal experience.
I was fortunate enough to get to spend a bit of one-on-one time with Greg during this first stop on his book and gallery tour. We spoke about everything under the sun in disarming, charming, Greg fashion.
We spoke about his former favorite haunt, the Chateau Marmont, that instead of taking care of its workers that made the place a home away from home to Hollywood’s A-list crowd, decided during Covid to do the unacceptable and fired the entire staff, erroneously thinking that it was the name that kept people coming back and not the people that made the place feel like a home
away from home. He was not upset that he lost his go to local place.
He was upset that the staff was treated so poorly. It’s not about him.
When we finally got around to speaking about the work, I questioned him about the title first off. He explained the title came from his creative director, (Gary Johns). Then he went on to explain why he felt it fit.
“The title, actually is a great title, because it stems from my philosophy and how I do personality photography. I take a back seat. I set the stage, then let the talent kind of unfold, rather than trying to invoke too much of my personality into the picture. What I invoke into the picture is basically my style as a photographer, in terms of my lighting and my staging. What I want is their personality to come through. So I try to get inside their head by winning their trust and confidence playing up or down in front of the lens. Many times celebrities are more comfortable playing a character rather than themselves in front of the lens. Where in the movies it’s one thing because they can be their alter ego but when it comes time to strip them bare of who that person is and figure out who they are inside their head it’s a different ballgame. I try to give them as much room to unveil themselves in front of the camera. So that’s why I s