“America’s First Americana Photography” is a project that I’ve been involved with since I first began taking photos. It’s an exhibition that I have been doing with the wonderful photographer, and author, Dr. Kevin Maney. It is comprised of photos from a number of different exhibitions in which we have featured some of the best Americana photography from the early 1900’s up through the present.
Americana Photography is a collection of a few hundred photos taken in a variety of different American settings (some of the images were taken by Maney himself) that is meant to be seen as a visual history of Americana photography. I’m always amazed at how much time and effort goes into documenting this history, and I’m always on the lookout for more.
Maney’s work on Americana photography was his first. His father was a photographer, but he didn’t really know how to use the camera until he started working as an apprentice in the Photo Shop. He was an avid photographer, often using film rather than the more modern, more expensive, more refined mediums. As a teenager he learned how to use Photoshop and other digital image programs. When he moved to Los Angeles he began to make art more than just pictures.
He was an avid portrait photographer, and is best known as one of the founders of the Photo Shop. He is known for his portraits of celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, Groucho Marx, and Elvis Presley. He is also known for his portraits of famous actors, including Clint Eastwood, James Dean, and Harrison Ford. His work has been featured in numerous publications, including the New York Times and Playboy.
As it turns out, the people who hired James Dean to work at the Photo Shop were a little more concerned with his looks than the other way around. He was the head of the studio and was a talented photographer. However, it was Dean who wanted to meet the Photo Shop’s owner, who was actually a man, to get a good sense of how the studio would work.
In his autobiography, James Dean talks about how he used to spend his free time in the studio with his wife and children, but that’s about it. He also talks about how he would shoot all of his most famous photos by himself, after he had to deal with the fact that the studio had to shoot his work.
Theres a very interesting story behind Dean’s photography. Apparently, he had an affair with photographer and model, Annabelle Hutton, in 1946. This may or may not have been one of the reasons he ended up leaving her. Her husband, photographer and director, John Barrymore, had recently died, and it was Dean’s idea to take off with Annabelle.
What makes the story of Deans photography interesting is how Annabelle Hutton’s husband died just a few months before their affair began and how Deans’ affair with Annabelle may have started the whole affair. It’s as if Annabelle had been trying to make things up to get back at her husband for years. Deans seems to have had a lot of guilt and regret.
Its a very well made drama about the way women live today. It also shows the way the photographer will choose to make things up to get back at his lover, even if their affair is the whole story.
And he’s not the only photographer who is in the story. It’s a story about the way women will tell their lives story to the world. You don’t really know what happened to Annabelle, just like you don’t know whether Deans was there or not. But you do know that he’s still trying to make things up.