I N T R O D U C T I O N
The Other Side
In portrait photography, there is always the other side—in front of the camera or behind the camera, instructions and poses offered in response, showing the obvious versus teasing out the unexpected. Every person is multifaceted, and this book reminds us of that fact: Grace Jones, David Bowie, and Sir Elton John pop up in a variety of shots. And, of course, we know these stars’ chameleon-like ability to transform themselves from film to film, record to record, tour to tour.
During his studio portrait sessions, Greg Gorman creates an atmosphere where the protagonists obviously feel safe and free to either act or relax, depending on their character or the job at hand. After all, most shoots are specially commissioned; the pictures or the one chosen portrait will be published in magazines, on movie posters, or as record covers for the world to see. These are not chance encounters between two people that take on photographic form; portraits are consciously composed and created with a specific purpose in mind. We see only professional role players, people who constantly immerse themselves in new roles, slipping into a second skin in the process. “I is another”—another one every time, to add to the famous quote by the French poet Arthur Rimbaud. Gorman always engages in give and take, creating encounters between equals. An intimate trust is built between the photographer and his subject that we can feel and see in the picture; sometimes it seems like we have the real-life person before us instead of the movie star.
The list of artists, actors, musicians, directors, and athletes shot by Gorman reads like a Who’s Who of the international culture and celebrity scene of decades past—from Alfred Hitchcock and Liz Taylor to Jack Nicholson and Sharon Stone. We know—or think we know—most of the people we see here despite never having met them in person. We know only what they look like. This closes the loop, because in the end the portraits match the image of the person we create in our minds, which in turn is the creation of a photographer like Gorman. The photographer starts off as just another viewer, but he creates something congenial by perpetuating the illusion-building machinery used by Hollywood, the big record labels, Broadway theaters, or the Wimbledon tennis tournament to present successful people from a variety of vocations—people who fascinate us, people whose achievements we admire.
Gorman had all of them in front of his camera and became friends with many of them. We feel the emotional bond between the photographer and the subject in the snapshots taken behind the scenes or at parties. We also see Gorman’s inimitable smile: friendly, open, directed at his peers. Anyone who has ever met him will not soon forget his winning personality. He is authentic—and that is a rare thing in this fast-moving business.
He sees everyone, even stars, as equals, free of preconceptions. This enables him to make his subjects more accessible to us than many of his colleagues can. With this extensive collection of portraits spanning his lengthy career, Gorman shapes our image of several generations of international stars while allowing each subject’s individual spark to shine through. A photo shoot that culminates in a usable portrait is a lot like an interview. We can classify and evaluate every hint of self-expression, be it verbal or visual, because even a portrait—the face, the hands, indeed, the entirety of the person’s body language—provides a kind of sign vehicle. Over his career, Gorman not only created several iconic portraits, he also recognized the work of his colleagues and their perspective on A-list actors and musicians.
