John Dominis: Going Fishing, Texas, 1953
©Time Inc.
Happy first day of summer!
Showing posts with label John Dominis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Dominis. Show all posts
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Go West: New York, Santa Fe, Los Angeles
For nearly 15 years, we have been exhibiting at the Photo LA fair. We are pleased to return for the 23rd edition, this year being held at the spacious LA Mart. Please visit us through Sunday in Booth #302. Click here for the digital catalogue.
Photo L.A. Celebrates 23 Years of Image-Making
One Spot, 1000s of Images: photo l.a
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
A NEW YEAR
As the final hours of 2013 elapse, we pause to remember two great friends that passed away in 2013: Bill Eppridge and John Dominis, along with so many other truly great photographers.
We are grateful that our lives have made it possible to know, or to have known, so many great photographers personally in our careers, and their humanistic photography and kind hearts have informed us in both our personal and professional lives.
2013 has once again affirmed our steadfast belief in the power of a photograph. To all of the photographers out there, past and present, we honor your commitment and service to humanity.
We are so very thankful to all who have visited the gallery and our booths at art fairs this year (we'll be in booth #302 at photo la 2014 January 16 - 19).
In a small way, this our "thank you" for 2013. We wish you the very best in 2014.
--Sidney and Michelle Monroe
Related: 2013 in Pictures, and more
Monday, December 30, 2013
JOHN DOMINIS: 1921 - 2013
John Dominis via johndominis.us
It is with great sadness that we have learned that LIFE
photographer, John Dominis, passed away Sunday, Dec. 29, 2013 after a long
illness. Obituaries and tributes below.
A consummate photojournalist, Dominis covered the Korean War for LIFE, and recorded the beginning of what became the Vietnam War. He photographed the firing of General Douglas MacArthur, and he covered John F. Kennedy’s emotional “I am a Berliner” speech. Dominis traveled the world constantly, and in 1966 he made two long trips to Africa to photograph the “big cats”: leopards, cheetahs, and lions for a remarkable series of picture essays in LIFE which later became the basis for a book. This project resulted in several awards for Dominis, including Magazine Photographer of the Year (1966).
Dominis also covered five Olympics, the Woodstock Festival, and represented both TIME and LIFE during President Richard Nixon’s 1972 trip to China. Many of the editors and photo-chiefs at LIFE considered Dominis to be the best all-around photographer on staff. After LIFE ceased regular publication, Dominis worked as photo editor for People and Sports Illustrated. Returning to freelance photography, Dominis shot the photographs for five Italian cookbooks, on location with Giuliano Bugialli, food writer and teacher.
“LIFE magazine was a great success. If a man hadn't seen a picture of a native in New Guinea, well, we brought him a picture of a native of New Guinea. We went into the homes of princes and Presidents and showed the public how they lived. The great thing about working with LIFE," says Dominis, "was that I was given all the support and money and time, whatever was required, to do almost any kind of work I wanted to do, anywhere in the world. It was like having a grant, a Guggenheim grant, but permanently."
In the spring of 1963, Steve McQueen was on the brink of superstardom, already popular from his big-screen breakout as one of The Magnificent Seven and just a couple months away from entering the Badass Hall of Fame with the release of The Great Escape. Intrigued by his dramatic backstory and his off-screen exploits — McQueen was a reformed delinquent who got his thrills racing cars and motorcycles — LIFE sent photographer John Dominis to California to hang out with the 33-year-old actor and see what he could get. Three weeks and more than 40 rolls of film later, Dominis had captured some astonishingly intimate and iconic images, photos impossible to imagine in today's restricted-access celebrity world.
Trailing Steve McQueen was Dominis' first Hollywood gig. "I liked the movies, but I didn't know who the stars were; I was not a movie buff," Dominis, now in his nineties, told LIFE.com. But he got the assignment because he and McQueen shared one vital passion point. "When I was living in Hong Kong I had a sports car and I raced it," Dominis says. "And I knew that Steve McQueen had a racing car. I rented one anticipating that we might do something with them. He was in a motorcycle race out in the desert, so I went out there in my car and met him, and I say, 'You wanna try my car?'" Later the two of them would zip around Los Angeles, including Sunset Boulevard (pictured). "We went pretty fast — I mean, as fast as you can safely go without getting arrested — and we'd ride and then stop and trade cars. He liked that, and I knew he liked it. I guess that was the first thing that softened him."
From early morning until late at night, Dominis followed McQueen through his action-packed days — camping with his buddies, racing his various vehicles, playing with his family, tooling around Hollywood. Even back then, Dominis says, he had to be mindful that his constant presence did not become irritating. "Movie stars, they weren't used to giving up a lot of time — in fact they didn't like to give up hardly ANY time," he says. "But I sort of relaxed in the beginning and didn't bother them every time they turned around, and they began to get used to me being there. If they were doing something, they would definitely just not notice me anymore."
New York Times: John Dominis, a Star Life Magazine Photographer, Dies at 92
L'Oeil de la Photographie: The death of John Dominis
NPR: The Incredible Versatility Of Photographer John Dominis
LA Times: John Dominis, one of the great Life photographers was 92
TIME: John Dominis, Longtime LIFE Photographer, Dies at 92
International Center for Photography: John Dominis: 1921 - 2013
PDN Obituary: John Dominis, Prolific LIFE Photographer, 92
F-Stoppers: Celebrating the life of LIFE photographer John Dominis
Santa Fe New Mexican: John Dominis, longtime photographer for 'Life', dies at 92
Washington Post: John Dominis, Life magazine photographer, dies at 92
Photographer Spotlight: John Dominis
LIFE PHOTOGRAPHER JOHN DOMINIS' PHOTOGRAPHS OF WOODSTOCK
The LIFE Photographers exhibition
John Dominis Exhibition
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
“LIFE magazine was a great success..."
“LIFE magazine was a great success.
If a man hadn't seen a picture of a native in New Guinea New
Guinea
The LIFE Photographers continues through Januray 26, 2014
Related: “I had no idea what else was available, but I knew Life had to have it.”
Bob Gomel got closer than he wanted to JFK’s funeral
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
45 Years Ago Today: Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympics
John Dominis—Life Picture Collection
Gold medalist Tommie Smith (center) and bronze medalist
John Carlos (right) raise black-gloved fists during the American national anthem
at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Australian sprinter Peter Norman, who won
silver in the 200 meters and supported Carlos and Smith's protest, stands at
left
Via LIFE.com
On the 45th anniversary of their Oct. 16, 1968, salute, and in tribute to Smith, Carlos and every other athlete — Muhammad Ali, Eric Liddell, Curt Flood, Sandy Koufax and on and on — who has acted on principle in a highly public way, LIFE.com presents John Dominis’s indelible portrait of that moment.
Smith and Carlos (both of whom are National Track and Field Hall of Famers) were vilified at home for their stand. They were suspended from the U.S. team. They received death threats. But neither man ever apologized for his raised fist or his bowed head — and neither ever had need to.
“We were just human beings who saw a need to bring attention to the inequality in our country,” Smith said years later, in a documentary on the 1968 Mexico City games produced for HBO. “I don’t like the idea of people looking at it as negative. There was nothing but a raised fist in the air and a bowed head, acknowledging the American flag — not symbolizing a hatred for it.”
Finally, it’s worth noting that the Australian silver medalist in the 200 meters in 1968, Peter Norman, stood solidly with Smith and Carlos, both literally and figuratively — displaying his solidarity with their action by wearing an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge during the medal ceremony. Four decades later, in 2006, both Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at Norman’s funeral.
“We knew that what we were going to do was far greater than any athletic feat,” Carlos was quoted as saying at the time. “[Norman] said, ‘I’ll stand with you.’”
Carlos expected to see fear in Peter Norman’s eyes before the medal ceremony, when there was no turning back from what they were about to do. But he didn’t see fear.
“I saw love,” he said.
[MORE: Read Madison Gray's 2010 interview with John Carlos on TIME.com.]
Related: "A raised arm, black power and Olympic trauma"
50 stunning Olympic moments No13: Tommie Smith and John Carlos Salute
The man who raised a black power salute at the 1968 Olympic Games
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Steve McQueen: Unpublished Photos of the King of Cool
John Dominis/Time Inc.: At his home in Palm Springs, McQueen practices his aim before heading out for a
shooting session in the desert
In the spring of 1963, Steve McQueen was on the brink of superstardom, already popular from his big-screen breakout as one of The Magnificent Seven and just a couple months away from entering the Badass Hall of Fame with the release of The Great Escape.
Intrigued by his dramatic backstory and his off-screen exploits — McQueen was a reformed delinquent who got his thrills racing cars and motorcycles — LIFE sent the great photographer John Dominis to California to hang out with the 33-year-old actor and, in effect, see what he could get.
Three weeks and more than 40 rolls of film later, Dominis had captured some astonishingly intimate and now-iconic images — photos impossible to imagine in today’s utterly restricted-access celebrity universe. Only a handful of those photos were ever published. Here, LIFE.com presents a series of previously unpublished gems from what Dominis would look back on as one of his favorite assignments, along with insights about the time he spent with the man who would soon don the mantle, “the King of Cool.”
Full slide show here.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Frank Sinatra by John Dominis
John Dominis: Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason, 1965
©Time Inc
Via La Lettre de la Photographie
In mid-20th century, performers would let magazine photographers get close. Audrey Hepburn did so with Mark Shaw in 1953. James Dean let Dennis Stock hang out in 1955. Leonard McCombe shadowed Kim Novak in 1956. John Dominis seized his opportunity with Frank Sinatra in 1965.
John Dominis: It was Sinatra’s 50th birthday, and what he probably thought was that he was going to have a long interview with a writer and maybe a few formal pictures. Often with famous people, when it comes to actually taking real pictures of their lifestyle, they balk. They don't want a guy hanging around every minute of the day and night. But that's what we wanted to do.
I went down to Florida, where Sinatra was performing. I met him and hung around backstage. After the show he’d eat with a bunch of friends. For about a week I just hung around. People would come by all the time, and he'd say, “Hey, John, take a picture of old Joe and me.” So I'd go snap and take this snapshot.
We went out to Las Vegas, and at some point on the plane I said, “Everything's great, but I'd like to start getting some of the stuff we hear about. You have parties late at night with some of your old buddies and things like that.” So he invited me to a party. He had all these girls there and guys up in his suite, and they drank, and he jerked the tablecloth out from under all the dinner dishes on a table. I'd never seen that trick really done. It worked. I was amazed. He didn't spill any dishes on the floor. I shot all this, and he got smashed and ended up singing in the closet with Jerry Lewis. Good stuff. I took three months with Sinatra. That’s unheard of nowadays.
(Interview dated October 27, 1993 was printed in full in the Bullfinch Press book, LIFE Photographers: What They Saw, in 1998. These photographs ©Time Inc., are courtesy The LIFE Gallery of Photography)
More photos here
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