Gordon Parks, 1912-2006, was a photojournalist on the staff of LIFE magazine and he often did photo essays for them about social issues. He grew up in segregated Fort Scott, Kansas where he was the youngest of 15 children.
The magazine asked him to look at the realities of life in the African-American part of town where he lived. He returned to his hometown to cover this story,”Back to Fort Scott,” and he got to visit his old friends and the places that he knew, such as the segregated schools there. His images revealed the life of this community in the 1940’s before the Civil Rights movement began. He also included photographs obtained of his childhood friends who, despite their problems with society, lived lives of dignity and productivity, and he followed them to their homes elsewhere. Many images show the families of his old friends.
Gordon Parks
Parks became famous and he was one of the few African-Americans in the photojournalism profession. He also was a movie director and a composer. This exhibit in Boston (Jan. 17 to Sept. 13) is of importance because this work was never published by LIFE magazine and thus is not well known. The photograph above was one of the first pictures acquired by the curators for this museum show. See link below to see a slide show of the exhibit and a video of the curator.
Klezmer band. Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 2005 By William Meyers
SOUNDTRACK FOR THIS PHOTO: “FREYLACH #8” BY KLEZMER JUICE (re-post from 2012)
By Paul Goldfinger, Photography editor at Blogfinger.net.
Every once in a while I will post a guest photographer segment which might be about a famous artist or just someone who sends us an image. Or, as in this case, it could just be a photographer whose work I stumbled upon. I don’t know William Meyers personally, but I saw one of his images (above) recently and I saved a copy for this post. I can’t even recall where I saw it, but his work has been exhibited and published extensively.
William Meyers was born in 1938, and perusal of his web site indicates that he shoots mostly black and white, and mostly in New York City. His themes include NYC lifestyles, music subjects, and Jewish life here and in Israel. He seems to like music and his photos seem to like women. In that sense he is like one of his heroes Garry Winogrand, a pioneer of street photography.
Meyers has been a photography writer for the Wall Street Journal as well as a successful photographer.
I am drawn to some of his work because his sensibility seems to be similar to my own. In 2015 he published a book of images from the outer boroughs of New York. Those black and white photos are all made with film, and all his photos are silver gelatin darkroom prints. Myers does not do digital.
Darkroom work is exhausting to do and requires great skill and is very time consuming. For those photographers who have gone digital, many consider the new technology to be a relief. The finished product is said to be indistinguishable from a dark room print, but others, including myself, would disagree. William Meyers has first-rate printers do his prints for him. Many famous artists in the past including Cartier-Bresson did the same. In my case, I did my own, but these days I mostly show my work on the Internet, but lately my prints are digital done by an expert lab.
“Busker” Union Square Subway Station. NYC. Feb. 2011. William Meyers
San Francisco Girls Band. Photographed at Banjo Jim’s on the Lower East Side. November 2011. William Meyers
Deborah Rosenthal, painter. New York City. 1998. William Meyers
Joe Maloney Asbury Park, New Jersey Palace Amusements. 1980. From the cover of “photograph” magazine. (PG) 2013.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net. 2013.
Photographs below courtesy of Rick Wester Fine Art, New York. Asbury and Jersey Shore photos by Joe Maloney, exhibited by Wester in 2013.
White shoes, Asbury Park. By Joe Maloney. 1979.
Joe Maloney was a pioneer in color photography when he took his 8×10 camera and documented life in Asbury Park and the Jersey Shore, c. 1979-80.
His work was nearly lost to history because his color prints suffered from a common problem back then—archival impermanence. But later his negatives were scanned and digitized, and his Asbury Park work has been receiving recognition.
We learned about his New York City exhibit (2013) when the magazine “photograph” ran an image of the Palace Amusements (1980) on the cover of their July/August, 2013 edition. Of course it caught my eye, and I contacted Mr. Wester who gave Blogfinger permission to show a few of the images.
Asbury Balloons. by Joe Maloney
Lyle Rexer, who reviewed the show for “photograph,” said that Maloney grew up in New Jersey in the 1970’s—a time when some photographers were “taking color to the street.” He referred to Asbury Park as “the working man’s ocean front paradise.”
Regarding Maloney’s images, Rexer says, “You can almost feel the summer heat and smell the zinc oxide.”**
According to Rick Wester, “Maloney documented his sense of a particular time—what the colors were like and how they interacted with the place and people to produce something indelible. I like to think of these as rock and roll pictures.” Maloney liked to photograph teenagers.
Asbury Rockers. by Joe Maloney
Joe Maloney. Seaside Heights, NJ. New Yorker
A New Yorker blogger, Hannah Choi (see link below,) related a quote by Joe Maloney regarding his photography efforts in Asbury Park, “It felt like you were inside a Bruce Springsteen song.”
The Asbury Pulp. (now defunct). has an excellent piece about Maloney dated June, 2013, including an interview with the artist.
Asbury miniature golf, 1979. By Joe Maloney.
The link below gives more information about Maloney’s work and show some great images as well. Rick Wester Fine Art at 526 West 26th Street, suite 417, in Chelsea, will be showing “Asbury Park and the Jersey Shore, c. 1979” until August 16. 2013.
*Re: Zinc oxide. By Paul Goldfinger. Blogfinger.net: When I worked in a Catskill Mountain resort in the 1960’s I was outdoors all day on the athletic staff and needed UV sunglasses and protection for my nose. I used zinc oxide, which I don’t recall having a smell, but my nose was a bright white. The guests called me, “Chief White Nose.”
I loved my nickname because my Mom always said that we were descended from American Indians. Mom had a vivid imagination and she loved cowboy and Indian movies, rooting for the Indians.
Brandon Stanton is a young man who had an idea: he would take portraits of New Yorkers and accompany them with funny or interesting captions and quotes. His images are alive and technically superb. His book is currently number one on the NY Times best seller list for non-fiction. —-PG. 2013 post.
These images were sent to us by James Calder of Ocean Grove. His sister Erin is the photographer and she lives in Neptune. She doesn’t know the fate of this remarkable creature. She and her husband enjoy photographing sea life. Looks like they hit the jackpot with this specimen. Maybe this reptile from the sea is an omen.
In May a diamond backed terrapin landed on the Ocean Grove beach. Here is a link: Terrapin in Ocean Grove
Turtle soup anyone?
STAN GETZ (tenor sax) and JOAO GILBERTO (vocals.) Maybe this turtle is from a place where they speak Portuguese? Just in case, here is “Para Machuchar Meu Coracao”
Or maybe this creature is from the Old Testament. Just in case, here is HAGEVATRON, a folk choir from Israel singing “Oseh Shalom” (a welcome in Hebrew)
By Paul Goldfinger, Photography editor @ Blogfinger. Original post 2013. Ocean Grove, NJ.
I found this “Season’s Greetings” photo card at a flea market/art show. I was intrigued by it. Clearly the work was by a serious artist. The name George Hukar sounded familiar, and a Google search revealed that he was a photographer and painter from California.
George (c. 1895-1975) was a founding member of the San Dieguito Art Guild. He taught painting and photography and he published an article about dark room work in the 1940 Christmas edition of Popular Photography . (Note the cover below.)
It is a bit of a “leap of faith” to believe that the George Hukar from the San Diego area is the one who made my 1931 holiday card, but I am going to assume that it is so.
This is not an ordinary “Season’s Greetings” card. It actually is a limited-edition hand-made silver-gelatin photograph which was sent as a card in 1931. I suspect that George Hukar was known to his friends as someone who would send out an original work of art each December.
The color of the print indicates that he tinted it with some darkroom chemical (toner) such as selenium or a variant of sepia or gold. The lighting makes the image. The model’s face is made dark using a darkroom technique called “burning.”
Perhaps this image was the inspiration for “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” I also like the idea that George would make his own Christmas cards in the darkroom. I have been doing that myself, in small limited editions, inspired by George’s work, although I have never photographed a nude subject other than my kids bathing in the kitchen sink. (That would be when they were very small.)
George Hukar’s article is mentioned along the left side.
Years ago, when all photographs were black and white, there were many creative things that could be done in the darkroom. George Hukar’s article in Popular Photography was called ” Studio Tricks,” so I can see why he did so well with this photo card.
Editor’s note: The post above is originally from 2013, and since then we have heard from others who knew George Hukar.
In 2018 we said this:
In 2013 I spoke to a woman from the San Dieguinto Photo League in California. But she had no record of this photo, however, we could verify George Hukar’s roll in the League.
Today (4/29/16) we got a comment from someone who recognizes our George Hukar as the artist who did the Christmas photo card.
Then, re-posted on September 15, 2018, it’s not every day I get to write about photography, solve a photo mystery, and post a nude on Blogfinger. We did get some additional information then.
July 28, 2020. We just received the following letter from Chrystal Snyder who is in Tempe, Arizona where it was 115 degrees yesterday, and 109 degrees today.
Hello, Paul
I just happened upon your Blogfinger post from 12/26/2013 that mentioned George Hukar of the San Diegito Art Guild. George was a friend of my father, Dick Snyder. He became an informal “uncle” to me and my sisters from the time he moved to San Diego in about 1960, becoming a key part of our extended family.
George was part of the Taliesin Fellowship in Spring Green, Wisconsin, in the 1930s. Through Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, George became a student of the teachings of Georgy Gurdjieff. I heard many stories of his time at Taliesin during my childhood.
My dad and George were friends and fellow commercial photographers in Chicago in the 1950’s. I haven’t seen the 1931 Season’s Greetings card you posted so I can’t confirm whether that one is his. I can say that George was a wonderful mentor to me. I spent countless hours with him in the darkroom and countless more roaming the city, the beach, the zoo and botanical garden, studying light and shadow and getting lost in the thrill of capturing a composition that expressed my own slant on the world.
Chrystal included a rare old photo of George.
Thanks for an unexpected opportunity to relish memories of a beloved friend and mentor!
Chrystal Snyder
Thank you Chrystal for adding to our collection of George Hukar information…a far cry from picking up a photocard at a flea market.
Paul @Blogfinger.net
FRANK SINATRA.
Attn Grovers: You will recognize the name Tali Esen Morgan, the long time musical director in Ocean Grove. His beautiful house stands today on Abbott Avenue, the Tali Esen Morgan House.
In keeping with our new plan of expanding photographic coverage on Blogfinger, here is an image by BF reader Ernest Bergman of Edison. He and Ronni are spending 5 days in Barcelona after cruising around the Med. We will accept high quality images from anywhere.
Rabari tribal elder. 2010 India. Photo by Steve McCurry.
By Paul Goldfinger, Photography Editor@Blogfinger.
Re-post from 2011 in order to make an update point. Comments from 2011 are still interesting and include a 2019 update. Feel free to offer 2019 comments.
From 1935-2009, professional photographers preferred shooting color with Kodachrome slide film They appreciated the remarkable quality and vivid colors— as well as the archival properties of the film.
Because of the advent of digital photography, Kodak ended production in 2009. Professional photographer Steve McCurry requested and received the very last roll of Kodachrome that was manufactured. He traveled from New York City to India to obtain those last 36 exposures. When he returned, he had the roll developed at a lab in Kansas, the last one in the world to be able to process Kodachrome. One of those images is shown above. The model is a tribal elder of the Rabari people who can be traced back all the way to Atilla the Hun.
Steve McCurry is a well-known photojournalist who has worked at National Geographic for 30 years. In addition, he has published books and he is a member of the renowned photo agency Magnum, based in New York City. His most famous image is that of an Afghan woman who appeared on the cover of National Geographic Magazine in 1985. Here is a link to an NPR report on McCurry dated today. You can see his iconic image from 1985 as well as other amazing photographs. NPR article about Steve McCurry
Currently, the tribal elder image on top is part of an exhibit entitled “Kodachrome: Images by Steve McCurry” at the Open Shutter gallery in Durango, Colorado. If you go to the link below, you will see a Vanity Fair article about this topic including a slide show of all the images on that last roll.
Untitled. By Anna Murphey Re-posted from September, 2013.
Anna Murphey is a retired professional photojournalist who often vacations in Ocean Grove and whose work we have shown in the past. (BF link for Anna Anna Murphey photographer ) She is currently visiting our town to be here at its most beautiful time—September.
Anna sent us the photo above and she explains the image in her own words:
“I am attaching a photo I took at Swartswood State Park one April-a warm day, it’s one of my favorites and it ran in the New Jersey Herald during my tenure as Chief Photographer.”
We also asked Anna to suggest a song for her delightful portrait of a young lady.
This is her reply, “Good Day Sunshine,” by the Beatles. As an aside, I saw the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1964, I still have my ticket stub, I guess that kind of dates me.”
THE BEATLES:
Editor’s note: We learned that Anna had passed in 2017. She was a fine photographer and her last contact with Blogfinger was 2016
Girl Lifts Boy ( 1st and 3rd images courtesy Mina Son)
New York City (Internet photo)
Levitt’s most important book
By Paul Goldfinger (re-posted from 2013 on Blogfinger) We have featured a group of important female photographers.
Those of you who follow photography on Blogfinger know that I am a big fan of black and white street photography. Some of the finest photographers in that genre were active in the 1930’s through the 1950’s in New York City and Paris. Among the best are Walker Evans, Eugene Atget, Andre Kertesz, Lee Friedlander and our guest photographer Helen Levitt, who was one of the pioneers.
Helen Levitt (1913-2009) photographed on the streets of New York City for over 70 years, both in black and white and color. She worked with Walker Evans in the 1930’s, and her work was shown at the first photo exhibit held at MOMA in 1939. She was an innovator in the street photography genre.
A documentary film maker named Tanya Sleiman has made a film, “95 Lives,” about Helen Levitt, and we heard about it from Mina Son, the producer, in November. Mina was kind enough to send us two photographs for our blog post and also a link to a very fine short film made by Tanya. I think you will enjoy it, as she tells us about her project. It is a unique treat for our blog. Thank you Tanya and Mina. The fund raising drive mentioned was completed in December 2012.
According to Mina Son, “95 Lives seeks to change the reality that Helen Levitt is a major female artist of the 20th century, someone who innovated in photography and film, yet is virtually unknown outside of elite art circles. This is why we are making this film.”
“Through Helen Levitt’s lens, we have found magic and visual poetry in our everyday lives. In helping her legacy live on, we hope her work inspires countless more generations of photographers to introduce the work and life of Helen Levitt to audiences all over.”
SOUNDTRACK: I guess the thing that has fascinated me about photography, ever since childhood, is the magic—-the freezing of a moment. It is a way to capture that moment and preserve it. Wouldn’t it have been great if photography had been invented one century sooner? We could see Washington crossing the Delaware or Napoleon at Waterloo.
Or, in our own lives, we can see how life was over 50 years ago, as in these images by Helen Levitt where ordinary street scenes back then now become extraordinary. This song matches up with these photos.
