If there's one element that marks a key difference between painting and photography it is the crucial element of time. A painting captures a moment or a face through a parallel process of interpretation and composition - and depending on the methodology or approach of the painter, the final work may take months to complete and be subject to any number of changes before the artist is satisfied with the end result. A painting references time the way a thought references the past.
A photograph, on the other hand, captures time itself - and the static immediacy of most photos references a myriad number of points and tangents that are not always present or discernible in a painting.
Hopefully that observation satisfies and (please!) doesn't offend any painters or photographers who might be reading this. And hopefully, it may prompt your desire to see Before They Were Famous: Behind the Lens of William John Kennedy, an upcoming show at the Long-Sharp/Curis Gallery in Detroit. In the early 1960's, Kennedy (already an established photographer with LIFE and Vogue) was drawn to the nascent Pop Art movement then gaining notice and attention. As luck would have it, he and his camera met up with two talented men who were relatively unknown at the time. Their names were Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana.
Needless to say those men did not remain unknown for very long. Warhol, who went on to embody Pop Art, opened our eyes to a commercialized society and a celebrity culture that mirrored it. Robert Indiana's sculptural works (especially his iconic LOVE piece) are now acclaimed throughout the world.
But all that was in the future. These pristine photos, all carefully reproduced from the original negatives, give only a modest foreshadowing of what was to come. What they do render up to the eye, however, is an unmistakable spirit of youthful optimism. It is a mood heightened immeasurably by the glimpses we catch of other notables from that period, such as Jasper Johns and Mario Amaya. And when one considers that these works have been unseen for nearly fifty years, the exhibit has all the attraction of a rediscovered treasure trove.
Mr. Kennedy himself will be present at the Saturday opening reception. An added bonus to the event: "Full Circle: Before They Were Famous", a documentary film which will be screened on the second floor of the gallery throughout the evening.
Mr. Kennedy took time to answer the following questions from Metromix.
How did it come about that a young and talented photographer met two young and talented artists back in the early sixties?
If it weren’t for my great-aunt, who adopted me and my sister after our mother passed away, I may not have been exposed to the art world as intensely as I was. She was a very educated woman for the times, interested in archeology, art history and such, and would take us to museums, buy us art supplies and pushed my education.
When I moved to New York to study at Pratt Institute, I was fortunate enough to work as an assistant to the brilliant Clifford Coffin, art director for Vogue Magazine and a creative genius. While I was trying to get my foot in the door of New York advertising, I’d go to gallery openings and events, which is where I met Robert Indiana. We both connected at struggling points of our career, and he’d invite me to his Coenties studio and to exhibitions.
When Robert introduced me to Andy Warhol at the Americans 1963 exhibition at MOMA, I ended up taking one of the only photographs of the two artists together at the time. Andy soon asked me to the Factory, we all got along and I guess they took a liking to me.
Did you have an inkling that fame would inevitably catch up with them?
Nobody then had the faintest inkling that they would achieve the fame they did!
Even in my own career, I remember experiencing a culture shock when I moved from my studio, a five/six-story walk up. Going from 161 W. 23rd Street in the Meat Packing District – back then it was becoming an artist colony – to eventually moving uptown in West Village made me feel like I had finally made it.
How would you describe the two back then?
If you look at Andy's work at the time, he was creating such powerful images that you would assume he’d be a strong personality. In meeting him, he was a lighter shade of pale and would only speak if you asked him about something specific such as art or his art in particular. His personality came through his artwork.
Robert was more outgoing, very intelligent. First going to this studio was like walking into his museum. He was prolific and has always been that way – such a fascinating person.
We've been told that these pictures were "in storage" for nearly fifty years. Was that intentional?
I was so busy with my own career that it’s all I focused on. It’s a matter of time. As a commercial photographer, you’re so heavily involved in editorial meetings, working with art directors, etc., that there wasn’t much room for anything else.
In the back of my mind, during the entire period, I wanted to find time to concentrate on fine art - and I now do. These pictures didn’t become important until after living in Miami for several years, I decided to leave the commercial arena and redirect my energies.
An entire generation of young photographers has never set foot inside a darkroom. Do you like the digital age? Or do you think something has been lost - possibly forever?
A great deal has been lost because the darkroom helped inject the photographer’s energy into every photo.
