Heroin and The Photo Essay

"Live Through This: Documenting One Woman’s Struggle with Heroin" photo essay is featured on today's TIME LightBox.  Tony Fouhse's powerful new book captures a young woman's recovery from addition, as well as an unconventional relationship between subject and documentary photographer. In the accompanying article, Paul Moakley notes:

"Photography has witnessed other, now-classic depictions of junkies, like Bill Eppridge’s “John and Karen, Two Lives Lost to Heroin,” published in LIFE in 1965, and Larry Clark’s landmark Tulsa (1971), in which the photographer’s portraits of his friends — and himself — formed a poignant picture of lost American youth."


Bill Eppridge's incredibly vivid and moving photo essay was published in Life Magazine in 1965:

Needle Park: Karen shooting up, New York City

©Bill Eppridge

"With "Needle Park," Bill gave us one of the most powerful and memorable photographic essays Life ever published, one still highly regarded today. The story was to run in two parts, the first focusing on an addicted couple to give the nation's narcotics problem a human face, the second to explain what was being done to treat it.

Research to find the ideal subjects for the story was almost as intense as the actual shooting. Weeks spent with the detectives of New York City's Narcotics Bureau were followed by months of "hanging out" in "Needle Park," on the street corners where connections were made, and in the fleabag hotels where the heroin was shot up. That the couple, Karen and John, were white was deliberate; it was not to be a race story.

Trust, between subject, photographer and magazine, was essential. It helped that Life had a reputation for being respectful and fair. Of Karen and John, writer Jim Mills found that "intellectually, they committed themselves very quickly, but the emotion okay came gradually over a period of weeks."

Bill and Jim earned that "okay" by living the addicts' life. Bill blended into the scenery, his presence often forgotten, his photographs taken with available light – he may have missed a few, but he probably gained much more. So convincing was Bill that he was picked up by the cops who thought that he had stolen his cameras and Life credentials. He also had some explaining to do to many of the magazine's readers who believed that the photographs were too real; they must have been faked.

The story complete, Bill, Jim and Life did what they could to find for Karen and John long-term care by a psychiatrist who specialized in drug addiction. The sensitivity that was necessary for Bill to photograph them assured that he would remain interested, but it isn't easy to keep track of addicts battling a devastating habit. And caring – about a subject, about your pictures – takes a toll.

In fact, Bill worries all the time: "They'll pay you for one day's worth of work," he says, "but it's usually about three. One to worry, one to shoot and then, one to recover."

-- Barbara Baker Burrows, The Digital Journalist

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Article by James Mills and photos by Bill Eppridge for Life Magazine, February 26, 1965.

 

Renowned Photojournalist Bill Eppridge Feature on CBS Morning Show

CBS news correspondent Michelle Miller interviews Bill Eppridge
photo by Adrienne Aurichio

June 5 will mark the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. The CBS Morning Show will feature a segment during the week of June 3 with the renowned photojournalist Bill Eppridge (air date to be announced, check your local listings).

Updated: Here is the segment:RFK assassination: Newly discovered footage backs up doctor's story about aiding Kennedy

Related:

The Historic Master Print of "Robert F. Kennedy Shot"

 Bill Eppridge: An American Treasure Review "An Eye On The Times"

The excitement and frenzy of Beatlemania is captured in Bill Eppridge exhibit opening Tuesday at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Massachusets

 

The Beatles exiting Pan Am Flight 101 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Feb. 7, 1964. The photograph, taken by Bill Eppridge, is included in the exhibit (Photo by Bill Eppridge. All rights reserved.)


Via The Republican
By Ray Kelly, The Republicanmasslive.com
on March 09, 2013

The excitement and frenzy of Beatlemania is captured in a photographic exhibit opening Tuesday at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield.

The black and white photographs, taken for CBS television and LIFE magazine, recall the arrival of the Fab Four in New York, their historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and much more.

Bill Eppridge, 75, of New Milford, Conn., a contract photographer for LIFE magazine at the time, is responsible for 33 of the 84 photographs in the exhibit. He was initially assigned to cover The Beatles’ airport arrival on Feb. 7, 1964. Instead, he photographed and chronicled their first six days in America.

When Eppridge arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport, he knew that long-haired musicians from England “who have caused a bit of a stir” were about to land.

“I thought this would be ‘four guys getting off a plane,’ but it turned out to be so much more,” Eppridge recalled. “Half of the New York photographer news corps was out there.”

Many members of the press expected a surly, possibly drugged out, rock’n’roll quartet to stumble off Pan Am Flight 101, but were instead charmed by The Beatles, he said.

“They were perfect gentlemen. These guys were laughing, smiling and treating the press with respect – perhaps deserved, perhaps not,” Eppridge said. “They were perfectly synchronized. One could start a sentence and the other could finish it. These guys were intelligent and they had control of the situation.”

He added, “There was something going on. I could feel it.”

Eppridge immediately called Richard Pollard, director of photography at LIFE, and offered to photograph The Beatles at the Plaza Hotel, Ed Sullivan show, Carnegie Hall performance and train trip to a Washington, D.C. concert

Unlike today when photographers typically deal with agents and handlers, Eppridge spoke directly with The Beatles.

Ringo Starr asked of him, “All right Mr. LIFE photographer, what can we do for you?”

“I told him, ‘Mr. Starr, just be yourselves and this will be painless,’” Eppridge responded.

A classical music aficionado, Eppridge experienced a Beatlemaniac’s fondest dream by witnessing the band’s first U.S. performances at CBS-TV Studio 50 (now the Ed Sullivan Theater), Carnegie Hall and the Washington D.C. Coliseum.

“The teenyboppers, the little girls, were just out of their minds. You couldn’t hear yourself from the screaming. You couldn’t hear the music at the concerts,” Eppridge said. “It was wonderfully crazy.”

During those six days, Eppridge shot nearly 100 rolls of 36-exposure film. Four photos were selected for use with LIFE’s Feb. 21, 1964 article "Yeah-Yeah-Yeah!"

Eppridge’s negatives went missing for several years before making their way back to him 1994. He is planning a book of his Beatles photography next year.

“As time goes by, you come away with a greater realization of what you have done,” Eppridge said.

While Eppridge never photographed the Fab Four again, he captured other historic moments for LIFE, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated.

He followed Robert F. Kennedy in the months leading up to his assassination on June 5, 1968 in Los Angeles.

Eppridge said he and other journalists viewed Kennedy as “totally reckless” for failing to take stringent security precautions in the wake of his brother’s assassination nearly five years earlier.

Eppridge said he was standing 12 feet behind Kennedy when the fatal shots rang out.

“Having been in Vietnam, I knew what incoming sounded like. The only thing I was wrong about was that I thought it was .25 caliber and it was .22,” Eppridge recalled.

Eppridge photographed the slain presidential candidate on the floor of the Ambassador Hotel.

“You operate on instinct. You do what you have to do,” he said. “You don’t even think about crying. I cried later.”

________

Bill Eppridge will share reflections on his memorable career at the D’Amour Museum on April 21 at 2 p.m.

IF YOU GO

Exhibit: “The Beatles! Backstage and Behind the Scenes”
When: Tuesday through June 2
Where: Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield
Cost: Adults, $15; seniors and college students, $10; ages 3 to 17 year, $8; ages 2 and under and museum members, free. Admission includes all four Springfield Museums. Springfield residents receive free general admission with proof of address
For more info: Call (413) 263-6800 or online at springfieldmuseums.org

 

 

Bill Eppridge will be in atendance during the AIPAD Photography Show in New York at Monroe Gallery of Photography, Booth #419, April 2 - 7, 2013.

49 Years Ago: February 7, The Beatles Arrive in America

Bill Eppridge: The Beatles Arrive, February 7, 1964, New York

 

 

"One morning my boss said, 'Look, we've got a bunch of British musicians coming into town. They're called the Beatles.'"

Eppridge was at John F. Kennedy airport on February 7, 1964 for the arrival of The Beatles. He continued to photograph The Beatles that day, and over the next several days. He was invited to come up to their room at the Plaza Hotel and "stick with them."

"These were four very fine young gentlemen, and great fun to be around," Eppridge recalls. After he introduced himself to Ringo, who consulted with John, the group asked what he wanted them to do while being photographed for Life. "I'm not going to ask you to do a thing," was Eppridge's reply. "I just want to be here."

Traveling with the Beatles, forced by a snowstorm to take the train to Washington, Eppridge captured some wonderfully fun and memorable pictures. He was with them in Central Park and at the Ed Sullivan Show for both the rehearsal and the historic performance, and photographed their Carnegie Hall performance on February 12, 1964.



Bill Eppridge in 2013 - so far!

L.A. City Council member Tom Le Bonge presents honary certificate

to Bill Eppridge at the gala opening of photo l.a. 2013 on January 17

Photo ©HollywoodToday

 

 

Bill Eppridge: “If It Moves, I’ll Shoot It”

FOTOFUSION: Fifty Years in Photojournalism by Bill Eppridge

Le Journal de la Photographie: "The hands-down shining moment of the event was a one and half hour lecture by the great Bill Eppridge: (photo la 2013)

photography legends inspire new focus at photo l.a. 2013

March 12 – June 2, 2013
Springfield Museums – Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts
Bill Eppridge’s photographs of the Beatles will be exhibited in the long-traveling show, The Beatles! Backstage and Behind The Scenes (Springfield, Mass.)
Bill Eppridge will be lecturing at the museum on April 21, 2013

September 20 – 21, 2013
PSA – Photographic Society of America
Bill Eppridge is the 2013 “International Understanding Through Photography” Honoree
And will be a featured speaker (Portland, Maine)


Related: Bill Eppridge prints at Monroe Gallery of Photography

 

 

Photo LA 2013: Diary of Jeff Dunas

Bill Eppridge, Senator Robert F Kennedy Shot,

Ambassador Hotel Kitchen, Los Angeles, California, June 5, 1968

Via Le Journal de la Photographie

 Slide Show #1


Same venue. A generous group of galleries reconvened this past weekend, January 17 - 21 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium for the 21st annual PhotoLA print fair.

Stephen Cohen, PhotoLA's founder, was in good form and seemed happy with the turnout and the exhibitions. The opening night was a wonderful social occasion for the photography community who turned up to benefit the Inner City Arts organization.

The hands-down shining moment of the event was a one and half hour lecture by the great Bill Eppridge. There wasn't a dry eye in the house for the moderately attended talk. Monroe gallery artist Eppridge discussed and showed work from his spectacular career as a photojournalist centering on his assignments from the 1960s including the Beatle's first US tour and the Robert Kennedy assassination If there is a photo-book publisher reading this - here is an incredible opportunity to publish a phenomenal monograph.

It's hard to say if there were detectible new currents on show this year - there was a surprising number of contemporary female nudes evident in many of the exhibitor's spaces but in terms of one emerging star of the program, none surfaced. Ben Nixon, a young photographer working with 19th century wet-plate technology, had a strong show of his forest work as well as his exquisite new title from 21st Editions. A lot of pigment printing on view, with an exceptional piece by Michael Lang at the Cohen Gallery booth. While many tend to pump the colors of modern ink-jet prints, Lang's images displayed a remarkable restraint and mastery of his craft. Less early 20th century masters on display than in prior years, a greater emphasis on the work of contemporary photographers - a good direction for mid-career image-makers. Most were American although a collective booth showing the work of Czech photography was wonderful. Daniel Miller of the Verge and Duncan Miller galleries hosted a booth for a group of women, all emerging photographers which was a good development.

This year an expanded series of seminars, some even tech seminars were added to bring in more photographers who were everywhere this year - a great chance to catch up with friends.

All in all, worthwhile, to be sure. Will I attend the 22nd PhotoLA?
Absolutely.


Jeff Dunas, Los Angeles

Slide Show #2

 Stephen Wilkes Day to Night Series

Stephen Wilkes, Sandy : Seaside Heights, New Jersey, November 4, 2012

Digital C-print, signed, limited edition #1/20 $10,000

Links

http://www.photola.com

FOTOFUSION: Fifty Years in Photojournalism by Bill Eppridge

Robert Kennedy, in a rare, quiet moment aboard a plane, 1966.

Photograph by Bill Eppridge/LIFE/ TimeInc

Via Palm Beach Daily News

Photographer of RFK’s last campaign shows at PB Photographic Centre By Jan Sjostrom

Daily News Arts Editor

The first time Bill Eppridge met Robert Kennedy was aboard Air Force One. He’d been assigned by Life magazine in 1966 to cover Lyndon Johnson — the first outside photographer permitted to photograph a president on the plane.

Johnson was on a tour of the Northeast, and Kennedy was there because he was the senator from New York. During the flight, Kennedy lit up a cigar and sat down near Eppridge to talk to then-White House press secretary Bill Moyers. Eppridge surreptitiously shot his picture, which appeared in the magazine.

Awhile later, Life assigned him to shoot pictures for a story about whether Kennedy would run for the presidency. Eppridge decided to formally introduce himself and get permission to shadow the senator for the next several weeks.

“What did you say your name was?” Kennedy asked. “Eppridge,” he said. Kennedy thought for moment, then said, “You can come along, but no cigars this time, OK?”

Eppridge was stunned that Kennedy remembered him. “From then on, I was his,” he said.

Two years later, Eppridge would shoot the iconic image of Kennedy sprawled on the kitchen floor of a Los Angeles hotel, felled by an assassin’s bullet, the busboy whose hand he’d just been shaking looking up in anguish.

Eppridge, 74, is the recipient of FOTOfusion’s 2013 FOTOmentor award recognizing lifetime achievement and impact on younger photographers. “He’s influenced several generations of photographers,” said Fatima Nejame, president and chief executive offficer of Palm Beach Photographic Centre. “Everyone speaks highly of him. His pictures are awesome.” The photography festival, which is organized by the center, opens Tuesday and runs through Saturday at the center and the Mandel Public Library in West Palm beach.

Eppridge’s work will be featured in the exhibition, Fifty Years in Photojournalism by Bill Eppridge. Also, he will attend two receptions and a dinner, give a lecture and participate in a panel about working in the media business today.

Eppridge was just 12 feet behind Kennedy when the shots rang out. He rushed forward, and saw Kennedy on the floor. “When I got there, the first thing I thought was when Jack Kennedy was killed no still photographs were made,” Eppridge said. “This was history being made in front of me. It was my job to record it.”

Eppridge positioned himself at a good angle and fired off four shots. The first was out of focus, in the second the busboy’s head was down, the third was the history-making photograph.

Eppridge lost interest in politics after Kennedy’s death. “If you photograph a politician, you want him to be a good man and someone you trust,” he said. “That was Bobby. I could not find another Bobby.”

During his long career Eppridge photographed for National Geographic, Life and Sports Illustrated and covered stories such as The Beatles’ first American tour, Woodstock, the funeral of murdered Civil Rights workers in Mississippi, the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Olympics.

One of his most memorable assignments was a landmark 1965 story for Life about heroin addiction moving into the young, middle-class white community. It took months to find a married couple willing to be photographed. At first, the wife demanded to be paid. When told that wasn’t possible, she asked why she should bother to do it.
“I told her, if you do, a few people who were going to get into your position might not after they see the story,” he said. “That’s what convinced her.”

Eppridge spent almost every day for three months photographing the couple, turning himself into a fly on the wall. “You just kind of mentally back off and let whatever is going to happen in front of you happen, without making determinations about what you’re seeing,” he said. “Later on, of course, you think about it a lot.”

Just as he’s never forgotten seeing Robert Kennedy killed.

He’s willing to live with painful memories. For him, the FOTOmentor award not only recognizes his accomplishments, but also affirms of the power of the still image.

---

IF YOU GO
What: Fifty Years in Photojournalism by Bill Eppridge
When: Monday through March 2
Where: Palm Beach Photographic Centre, 415 Clematis Street, West Palm Beach
For information: Call 253-2600 or visit workshop.org or fotofusion.org

FOTOfusion Highlights
The 18th annual FOTOfusion features more than 100 workshops, lectures, panel discussions, multimedia presentations, portfolio reviews, computer classes, demonstrations and photo shoots taught by noteworthy industry leaders and photographers.

Among the offerings are talks about alternative printing techniques, iPhone photography and easy ways to improve your digital photos. Douglas Dubler will discuss his recent project shooting American Ballet Theatre, photographer Carlton Ward will share recollections of last year’s 1,000-mile trek along the Florida Wildlife Corridor and picture editor Scott McKiernan will display the best pictures of 2012 from Zuma Press Wire Service and its affiliates. Exhibitions will feature images by Rising Star award winner Antonio Bolfo and FOTOmentor Bill Eppridge.

FOTOfusion will be held Tuesday through Saturday at Palm Beach Photographic Centre, 415 N. Clematis Street, West Palm Beach, and the Mandel Public Library, 411 N. Clematis Street, West Palm Beach.

Photo l.a. returned for its 22nd Edition – with closing date Jan. 21st

Bill Eppridge with Congressman Tom LeBonge (right)

Via Hollywoodtoday.net

Photo l.a. – the longstanding photographic art exposition, returned to the historic Santa Monica Civic Auditorium last night for its 22nd edition. The show will run daily through January 21, 2013. Continuing the discourse on photography’s place in the fine arts, photo l.a. provides dealers from around the globe a platform for the exhibition of vintage masterworks and contemporary photography, as well as video and multimedia installations creating the juxtaposition that differentiates photo l.a. from the rest.

Over the last two decades, photo l.a. has exhibited more than 300 galleries, private dealers and publishers, as well as presented more than 200 lectures and collecting seminars to the public. photo l.a. offers a dynamic experience for visitors while also attracting over 11,000 interested collectors, curators and dealers of photography annually. 

Photos by Steve Schapiro of Rosa Parks,  Martin Luther King at Monroe Gallery Booth

In addition to the continuation of the lectures, panels, book signings and special installations, photo l.a. is pleased to introduce photoBOOK LA, a new platform for publishers and book artists with guest reviewers offering feedback to photographers on their book proposals.

Following the overwhelming success of the Emerging Focus Educational series during last year’s exposition, photo l.a. is announcing its affiliation with Emerging Focus Photo Expo, which will be held across the street at the Hilton Doubletree Hotel. Master classes on photography and portfolio reviews will be part of the schedule.

Alec Byrne’s photo of Paul McCartney 1970

Photo l.a. 2013′s speakers, panels, roundtables, book signings and installations include:
Mapplethorpe at LACMA and the Getty — Los Angeles County Museum of Art curator Britt Salvesen (Robert Mapplethorpe: XYZ) and Curator of Photographs at the Getty Research Institute, Francis Terpak (In Focus: Robert Mapplethorpe), will discuss the simultaneous exhibitions of the artist’s work.

Mike Spitz book about mental illness

Matthew Thompson — curator and author of “The Anxiety of Photography” — will lead a round table discussion with a mix of younger Los Angeles artists including Andrea Longacre-White, Anthony Pearson and David Benjamin Sherry, who hybridize photography with some other media to explore its materiality.

Bill Eppridge — noted photojournalist — lectures on his experiences documenting the 1960s,   specifically, Robert F. Kennedy’s final campaign.

Meg Partridge — filmmaker — will speak about her father, Rondal Partridge, and his photographic work. Rondal Partridge was the son of Imogen Cunningham, whose mentors and colleagues included Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange and Edward Weston.

Bill Eppridge’s photos of Robert F. Kennedy

Josephine Sacabo — photographer — will discuss her trajectory from a documentary street photographer to her current work using the etched photogravure as her exclusive form of printmaking.

POINT OF VIEW — selections from Los Angeles collectors will be exhibited with some collectors elaborating on their collecting motivations at a round table discussion.

Artillery Magazine hosts one of its infamous Face Off Debates. 

Ellen Jantzen

New Sales Platforms roundtable with Heritage Auctions, 1stdibs and artnet. 

Private docent tours of the fair with experts in the field of photography: Gordon Baldwin (former Curator, Dept. of Photographs, The J. Paul Getty Museum), Deborah Bell (Vice President, Specialist Head of Photographs Department), Weston Naef (Curator Emeritus, Dept.  of Photographs, The J. Paul Getty Museum)

Visit www.photola.com for open hours.
January 18th – 21st, 2013
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
1855 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA90401-3209
.
JANUARY 18th – 21st, 2013
SANTA MONICA CIVIC AUDITORIUM

Photo la 2013 Opening Night Thursday, January 17

photo l.a. is honored to host the preview reception for the benefit of Inner-City Arts on January 17, 2013 from 6 – 9 pm. Please join us for an evening of art and charity. Tickets are $80 and can be purchased directly from Inner-City Arts

Bill Eppridge: 50 Years of Photojournalism

June 5, 1968. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel (Standing at the podium in the Ambassador Hotel Ballroom. Kennedy was just finishing his California primary victory speech and was moments away from walking into the kitchen where he was shot by Sirhan Sirhan.)

Photograph by Bill Eppridge/LIFE/©TimeInc.

 

photo la 2013

Keynote Speaker Bill Eppridge

Friday, January 18, 2013  3:30 - 5 PM

Bill Eppridge, noted photojournalist, lectures on his experiences documenting the 1960s, specifically, Robert F. Kennedy's final campaign and the Beatles first US tour.

 

Museum Exhibit

FOTOmentor Exhibition
Bill Eppridge: 50 Years of Photojournalism

Opening Reception

January 25, 2013 from 6:00-8:00 pm

On View thru January 12 to February 28, 2013

 

One highlight of the upcoming FOTOfusion will be the presentation of the prestigious FOTOmentor Award to Bill Eppridge, a Life Magazine staff photographer during the golden era of photojournalism when the big picture publications supported numerous pages of great photography. In addition to the award, Mr. Eppridge’s work will be featured in this year’s FOTOmentor Exhibition.

Present at some of history’s most famous events, Eppridge’s photographs weave a visual narrative of our times. This exhibition will feature many of his most famous images from the Sixties including the Presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, the Beatles first U.S. visit, the Woodstock Music festival, and his groundbreaking photo essay on heroin addiction in Needle Park.

A self-taught photographer, Bill Eppridge later graduated from the University of Missouri Journalism School. Winning first prize in the National Press Photographers competition earned him internships at Life magazine, where he was named a staff photographer in 1964 and stayed until the magazine folded in 1972. Following assignments with National Geographic, Mr. Eppridge spent 30 years traveling the world as a photographer for Sports Illustrated.

He has been awarded the Joseph A. Sprague Award, The Missouri Journalism Honor Medal and The Lucie Foundation Achievement in Photojournalism. In 2009, Mr. Eppridge was inducted into the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame. He has published four books and his work is included in major collections and museums worldwide.

Bill Eppridge was a Life staff photographer during the golden era of photojournalism when the big picture magazines supported pages of great photography. Present at some of history’s most famous events, Eppridge’s photographs weave a visual narrative of our times. The exhibition features his most famous images from the Sixties including the Presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, the Beatles first U.S. visit, the Woodstock Music festival, and his groundbreaking photo essay on heroin addiction in Needle Park.

Mr. Eppridge will present the Rising Star award at the FOTOfusion Awards Dinner on January 23 and will be present at the exhibition’s Opening Reception on January 25.

About the FOTOmentor Award:

Each year, the PBPC Awards Committee selects a photographer to receive the FOTOmentor Award in honor of his/her lifetime achievements in the world of photography. Previous recipients include distinguished photographers Ralph Gibson, Gordon Parks, Sebastiao Salgado, Arnold Newman, Ruth Bernhard, Duane MichaeIs, James Nachtwey, Michael Kenna, David Hume Kennerly and Robert Glenn Ketchum.
 

Tonight in NYC: "Eddie Adams: Saigon '68"

Via DocNYC
EDDIE ADAMS: SAIGON ’68

7:45 PM, Wed. Nov. 14, 2012 - IFC Center - Buy Tickets

Expected to Attend: Douglas Sloan, Morley Safer, Bob Schieffer, Hal Buell, Bill Eppridge, James S. Robbins

 

WORLD PREMIERE “Photographs do lie,” said Eddie Adams who took one of the Vietnam War’s most arresting photos of a point-blank execution. Filmmaker Douglas Sloan (Elliott Erwitt: I Bark at Dogs) investigates this famous image, revealing the complicated back-story of Adams and Nguyen Ngoc Loan, seen in the photo pulling the trigger. Sloan will screen his 15 min short featuring interviews with Peter Arnett, Bill Eppridge, Richard Pyle, Morley Safer and Bob Schieffer; followed by a live conversation about Adams’ legacy and the questions raised by the film.

Co-presented with the International Center of Photography.

Official Site: http://Saigon68.com

 

Director:Douglas Sloan

Producer: Tania Sethi

Cinematographer: Jack Donnelly

Editor: Charly Bender

Music: Hank Aberle

Running Time: 15 min

Related: Interview with  “Saigon ’68” Director Douglas Sloan

"It quickly became obvious that the story was not about the photograph but rather is the story of perception: of how a man takes a picture, the world responds, and that response leads him to a more nuanced, truthful understanding of the power of the media, the evils of war, and the complexities of human nature — Eddie Adams’ included."

 

Bill Eppridge, noted photojournalist, will present keynote lecture on his experiences documenting the 1960s at Photo LA 2013

photo l.a. features new and established galleries from around the world that present classic, vintage and contemporary photography. Providing a visual discourse on photography's place in contemporary art, photo l.a. is an exciting forum for collectors and exhibitors.

Photography publications, and artist produced books, have become increasingly more important in the field of photography and contemporary art. We are delighted to announce photoBOOK LA as a new platform for boutique publishers and book artists. Since it's inception photo l.a. has contributed to the increased appreciation of photography and collecting in Los Angeles. We are certain that photoBOOK LA will be an excellent addition to this tradition.

With over 10,000 visitors photo l.a. is the best platform for meeting with collectors, curators and artists in Los Angeles. Our outstanding programming series continues to address the most current topics in the converging worlds of art and photography.


• Los Angeles County Museum of Art curator Britt Salvesen (Robert Mapplethorpe: XYZ) and Curator of Photographs at the Getty Research Institute, Francis Terpak (In Focus: Robert Mapplethorpe), will discuss the simultaneous exhibitions of the artist's work.



• Matthew Thompson, curator and author of The Anxiety of Photography, will lead a round table discussion with a mix of younger Los Angeles artists including Andrea Longacre-White, Anthony Pearson and David Benjamin Sherry, who hybridize photography with some other practice to explore its materiality.



• Point Of View: selections from Los Angeles collectors will be on view. A round table discussion some of the collectors will elaborate on their collecting motivations



• Bill Eppridge, noted photojournalist, lectures on his experiences documenting the 1960s, specifically, Robert F. Kennedy's final campaign.



• Meg Partridge, Filmmaker, will speak about her father, Rondal Partridge, and his photographic work. The son of Imogen Cunningham, his mentors and colleagues included Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange and Edward Weston



• Artillery magazine hosts one of its infamous Face Off Debates.



• New Sales Platforms roundtable with Heritage Auctions, 1stdibs and artnet.



• Private docent tours of the fair with experts in the field of photography history, the market and museum exhibitions.



• Josephine Sacabo, will discuss her trajectory from a documentary street photographer to her current work using the etched photogravure as her exclusive form of print making.



• photoBOOK LA, a new platform for boutique publishers & book artists at photo l.a.



photo l.a., the 22nd Los Angeles International Photographic Art Exposition, takes place January 18 - 21, 2013 at the historic Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Opening with a gala reception on Thursday, January 17, 2012. Please visit www.photola.com for fair and programming.

Visit Monroe Gallery of Photography during the fair at booth #M150.

George McGovern, the Quiet Warrior: Photos By Bill Eppridge From His ’72 Campaign

Slideshow here.

 

Via LIFE

 

 

Former U.S. Senator and 1972 presidential candidate George S. McGovern (b. 1922) has died after being admitted to a Sioux Falls hospice six days ago. He was 90 years old and had been in failing health “with a combination of medical conditions, due to age, that have worsened over recent months,” according to a statement from his family. From the mid-1960s through the early ’80s, he was one of the most prominent Democratic politicians in the United States — a proud liberal, decorated World War II veteran and tireless advocate for the poor and disenfranchised in America and around the world.

Here, LIFE.com remembers the native South Dakotan with a series of photos by LIFE’s Bill Eppridge, made on the campaign trail during the 1972 race for the presidency. Over the course of a few, heady months of that pivotal year, Americans were able to take the measure of the man to an extent that they never had before — and never would again. In November, he would lose to Richard Nixon in an historic landslide for the Republican incumbent; but during his time in the national spotlight, George McGovern articulated the progressive ideals he held dear as forcefully and as consistently as any candidate in the history of American presidential politics.

[Read Howard Chua-Eoan's McGovern obituary on TIME.com.]

Bill Eppridge recently told LIFE.com that, 40 years after that ’72 campaign, he recalled McGovern, the man, much more clearly than McGovern, the candidate. And he liked what he remembered.

“He was the sort of person,” Eppridge said, “that you’d want to have as a next-door neighbor. Friendly. Solid. He struck me as a genuine, down-to-earth person, and that’s not a quality you associate with many politicians. Not today, and not so much back then, either.”

Eppridge had documented Robert Kennedy’s 1968 campaign for the presidency and, famously, chronicled the violence-scarred final moments of RFK’s life as he lay dying in a bus boy’s arms on the floor of a Los Angeles hotel kitchen. Eppridge told LIFE.com that Bobby Kennedy’s death made it impossible for him to care, for years, about politics or politicians. He had grown into a Kennedy supporter and believer while covering the candidate in public and in private, and RFK’s murder in June 1968 left him bereft. He had to get away from the rough-and-tumble, and the unending stress, of high-stakes politics.

“But four years later,” he continues, “I was back covering a presidential race. McGovern’s campaign had a positive, unhurried feel to it. It ran smoothly, and McGovern himself was an easy guy to be around. The campaign had energy, of course, but it never felt frantic … or mean.”

[See more of Bill Eppridge's work at the Monroe Gallery of Photography.]

Below is an admittedly incomplete, at-a-glance biography of George McGovern — a man who led an exemplary American life, filled with accolades and victories as well as profound disappointments and searing personal loss. He will be missed.

George McGovern married his wife, Eleanor, in 1943, during the Second World War. They remained married for 64 years, until hear death in 2007. (She was also a native South Dakotan, and as a pilot during WWII McGovern named his B-24 bomber the “Dakota Queen” after her.)


Father of five children, including his late daughter, Teresa, who died in 1994 at the age of 45 after a long battle with alcoholism. McGovern later wrote a book, Terry: My Daughter’s Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism, chronicling her struggle and the devastating effect her illness had on his family. In 2012, his son Steven died — after years of fighting alcoholism, as well.


Military Service: Pilot, B-24 Liberator, European Theater, WWII. Flew 35 missions, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals


Ph.D., Northwestern University


Congressman (D-SD), 1958-1960; United States Senator, 1963 – 1981


Publicly opposed American involvement in Vietnam as early as 1963


Democratic candidate for president, 1972; lost to Richard Nixon in a landslide, winning only the state of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. After the Watergate scandal destroyed Nixon’s presidency, cars were seen bearing bumper stickers that read, “Don’t blame me, I’m from Massachusetts.”


First-ever director of the United States’ Food for Peace program in 1961


Served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture (1998–2001); named World Food Prize co‑laureate in 2008


Gandhi Peace Award Laureate (1991)


Presidential Medal of Freedom (2000)

Barbra Streisand Returns to Brooklyn

© Bill Eppridge: Barbara Streisand in her kitchen, Brooklyn, NY, 1964

Barbra Streisand is back. She opens her new Back to Brooklyn concert tour at the new Barclays Center arena on Thursday and Saturday, has a new album titled Release Me coming out Tuesday, will be back in movie theaters this fall with a film titled The Guilt Trip, and is the subject of a dishy new William J. Mann biography, Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand.

Bill Eppridge covered Barbra Streisand for a LIFE magazine cover story  as she was reaching international stardom in 1966. See it here.



Related: Remembering a Film About Brooklynites Who Were All About Streisand

©Bill Eppridge: Barbara Streisand with Paparazzi, Paris, 1966

Bill Eppridge speaks at Echo Foundation and Charlotte Observer exhibit of

Bill Eppridge's photographs. Photo by Meredith Jones

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/03/3501561/dnc-party-pics-090312.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/03/3501561/dnc-party-pics-090312.html#storylink=cpy

Via Charlotte Observer

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend speaks Echo Foundation and Charlotte Observer exhibit

of Bill Eppridge's photographs. Photo by Meredith Jones

 

 

 

Echo Foundation and Charlotte Observer exhibit of Bill Eppridge's photographs.

Photo by Meredith Jones

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/03/3501561/dnc-party-pics-090312.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.cDNC Exhibit showcases photos of harlotteobserver.com/2012/09/03/3501561/dnc-party-pics-090312.html#storylink=cpy

 

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/03/3501561/dnc-party-pics-090312.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/03/3501561/dnc-party-pics-090312.html#storylink=cpy

Related: DNC Exhibit showcases photos of Robert F. Kennedy

DNC Exhibit showcases photos of RFK

 Bill Eppridge, Senator Robert Kennedy at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa 1966

  ©Time Inc.

Via Charlotte Observer
 By Claire McNeill
cmcneill@charlotteobserver.com

Magazine photographer followed Kennedy during 1968 presidential campaign

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/02/3499126/exhibit-showcases-photographers.html#storylink=cpy

Life magazine photographer Bill Eppridge shadowed Bobby Kennedy on the 1968 presidential campaign trail, witnessing everything from quiet moments to massive rallies.

On June 5, 1968, Eppridge took a famous photo of Kennedy lying on the floor of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, moments after he had been shot.

“There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about that man,” Eppridge said.

Now, with politics on center stage in Charlotte, a special exhibit featuring nearly 40 of Eppridge’s photos of Kennedy will be on display.

The show, “One America, One American,” is sponsored by The Echo Foundation and The Charlotte Observer.

Housed in the Observer’s lobby, the exhibition is open to the public Sept. 4-Oct. 19, following The Echo Foundation’s 15th annual award gala opening Monday.

Eppridge, born in 1938 and still taking photographs, will attend the opening, as will Kennedy’s oldest daughter, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a former lieutenant governor of Maryland. Townsend will accept the foundation’s inaugural Family Legacy Award on behalf of the Kennedy family.

Former presidential candidate and retired Gen. Wesley Clark will deliver the night’s keynote address, “Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times.”

Eppridge, a self-taught photographer and veteran of Life, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated, said the exhibit’s timing – coinciding with the Democratic National Convention – is “really special.”
“I think a lot of (delegates) don’t really know who he was or what he stood for or the importance of that man, and maybe this will get them thinking about where we’ve been or where we might be able to go,” he said.

Before Kennedy became a Democratic senator from New York, he was attorney general in the administration of his brother, John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. Bobby Kennedy was an icon of the civil rights movement and took a strong stance against the war in Vietnam.
Eppridge said Bobby Kennedy’s importance lay in his honesty, popularity and dedication to getting troops home from Vietnam as soon as possible.

“I had quite unusual access to that man. I heard and saw and knew things that other people didn’t, and I realized that he was dead serious when he told us, ‘We are out of Vietnam on the day I take office,’ ” Eppridge said. “I don’t think anything was impossible to him.”

The Echo Foundation will also display the winning photographs from its international student photojournalism competition, which sought photography responding to the question, “What does democracy or tyranny; justice or injustice look like?”

From more than 500 entries from students across the globe, Tobin Jones, who attends the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom, was chosen as grand-prize winner.

Jones won the opportunity to travel to Charlotte during the convention and take photos alongside Eppridge for one day.

Copyright 2012 The Charlotte Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 Want to go?
The free public exhibit, “One America, One American,” is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4-Oct. 19 in the Observer lobby, 600 S. Tryon St.   

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/02/3499126/exhibit-showcases-photographers.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/02/3499126/exhibit-showcases-photographers.html#storylink=cpy

The Echo Foundation Presents Global Photojournalism Project; Bill Eppridge Exhibition

-Bill Eppridge Photographic Exhibit Highlighting the Legacy of Robert F. Kennedy

-International Photojournalism Student Competition Winners Announced

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Affirming the power of free speech and expression, The Echo Foundation celebrates powerful photojournalism with a two-part series that addresses justice, democracy and humanity. While honoring the work of a respected force in photojournalism, the foundation engages the next generation of emerging photographers.

Echo's election year series – "We the People. The Voices and Vision of Democracy." – proudly presents the extraordinary work of revered photographer Bill Eppridge and his exhibit entitled "One America, One American: Robert F. Kennedy Through the Lens of Bill Eppridge." Housed in The Charlotte Observer gallery, the exhibition is open to the public September 4 – October 19.

Eppridge, a veteran photojournalist, has worked for prominent publications including National Geographic, LIFE Magazine and Sports Illustrated. The exhibit contains nearly 40 intimate RFK photographs and reflections by Eppridge, who traveled the campaign trail with the senator in 1966-1968.

Installation photograph by Stephanie Ansaldo

To inspire students worldwide, Echo's international photojournalism competition invited students to submit original photography responding to the question, "What does democracy or tyranny; justice or injustice look like?" More than 500 entries from students representing 40 countries across the globe were submitted.

New York Times Senior Photographer Tyler Hicks judged the competition and awarded the grand prize to Tobin Jones, a graduate student at the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom, who submitted a photo taken in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya.

The student photojournalist describes his photo, titled "Religious Healing," as a priest in a Kenyan slum trying to exorcise a demon tormenting one of his parishioners. Jones says, "In Kibera, religion, as a money-making opportunity, has taken on a whole new dimension; often cheating people in the slum of their hard earned money."

Hicks explains, "Telling the story succinctly in a single image, this photograph speaks not only to injustice in Kibera, but also to a larger audience about the endemic poverty crisis in Africa."

Jones will travel to Charlotte during the Democratic National Convention where his winning photograph will be on display next to Eppridge's iconic pieces in the exhibit. In addition, Jones has the opportunity to photograph for one day alongside Eppridge during the convention.

A special opening ceremony of "One America, One American" takes place on September 3, as part of Echo's 15^th Annual Award Gala. To purchase tickets, please visit www.echofoundation.org.


About The Echo Foundation
The Echo Foundation was founded in 1997 to carry on the message Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel brought to Charlotte that year – a call to action for human dignity, justice and moral courage. Through comprehensive education programs, Echo equips individuals with moral and intellectual tools necessary to create positive change. For more information, please visit www.echofoundation.org.


Related posts:  History, Lived and Documented

   2011 Lucie Awards: Bill Eppridge is Honoree for Achivement in Photojournalism

Kennedy to Kent State: Images of a Generation

Bernie Boston
American, 1933-2008
Flower Power, October 22, 1967

Via Worcester Art Museum
September 29, 2012-February 3, 2013


The Worcester Art Museum presents an exhibition of some of the most powerful American photographs of the 1960s, the images through which the country shared that dynamic period and by which it is remembered. All from the museum's permanent collection, these photographs were collected by Howard G. Davis, III to recall and reflect upon his memories of the era that had formed his personality. The images date from 1958 to 1975, and include the presidency and assassination of John F. Kennedy, as well as the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, the American space program and its mission to the moon, the antiwar movement and counterculture.
Join us for Kennedy to Kent State: Images of a Generation Opening Party on September 29, 2012,
8-11pm


Directions

Select Images

Remarkable account of cops and prosecutors who set aside their own prejudice to crack extortion ring that preyed on Gay men

This photo first appeared in Life’s 1964 issue about homosexuality. Barney Anthony put up a sign warning homosexuals to stay out of his Hollywood bar. “I don’t like him,” he said. “There’s no excuse. They’ll approach any nice-looking guy. Anybody does any recruiting, I say shoot him. Who cares?” Photo by Bill Eppridge



Via Slate

The rise and incredible fall of a vicious extortion ring that preyed on prominent gay men in the 1960s.

By William McGowan

Posted Wednesday, July 11, 2012, at 5:00 AM ET

"In the year following the Western Union arrest, the NYPD and the FBI, working in parallel (and sometimes at odds), would uncover and break a massive gay extortion ring whose viciousness and criminal flair was without precedent. Impersonating corrupt vice-squad detectives, members of this ring, known in police parlance as bulls, had used young, often underage men known as chickens to successfully blackmail closeted pillars of the establishment, among them a navy admiral, two generals, a U.S. congressman, a prominent surgeon, an Ivy League professor, a prep school headmaster, and several well-known actors, singers, and television personalities. The ring had operated for almost a decade, had victimized thousands, and had taken in at least $2 million. When he announced in 1966 that the ring had been broken up, Manhattan DA Frank Hogan said the victims had all been shaken down “on the threat that their homosexual proclivities would be exposed unless they paid for silence.”

Though now almost forgotten, the case of “the Chickens and the Bulls” as the NYPD called it (or “Operation Homex,” to the FBI), still stands as the most far-flung, most organized, and most brazen example of homosexual extortion in the nation’s history. And while the Stonewall riot in June 1969 is considered by many to be the pivotal moment in gay civil rights, this case represents an important crux too, marking the first time that the law enforcement establishment actually worked on behalf of victimized gay men, instead of locking them up or shrugging."

Full article here.

Related: People Get Ready: The Struggle For Human Rights