Sometimes a photograph of a non momentous moment  says more than a blockbuster moment.  I offer this photograph of Harry S. Truman as evidence.

If you want to see more of my political images, please go to collections and tap “ The Politicians.” It’s the season…george z.

Dear Commander Steichen,

This letter is 56 years late but I think it’s never too late to say what you have to say.

When I received a gift of Bill Ewing & Todd Brandow’s book “ Edward Steichen - The Lives” I didn’t realize how it would affect me to really know your life and see the range of your work. It has been a humbling experience. There is so much I didn’t know. I thank Natasha Christia of Kowasa Gallery for her generosity.

I knew you for such a small part of your story. The last time we spoke was in 1953, I was in an Army hospital at Fort Dix N.J. running a 104 fever and delirious. I had phoned you at MOMA. I remember half shouting “Get me out of here . I want to go take pictures!” Your connections were with the Navy and I was in the Army so you couldn’t get me on a boat to Korea. I just walked out of the hospital. My unit was soon shipped in the other direction, to Germany.

When I arrived, they told me I couldn’t be in the infantry because I had flat feet. “OK, I would like to be a photographer.” I said. “Everybody wants to be a photographer.” they said. Then I pulled out some correspondence from The New York Times and Life Magazine. OK. They believed me. The wheels turned and I was sent to Ettlingen Germany as a photographer for a small combat engineer unit. It was responsible for bridges across the Rhine. The setup was unusual because I had my own lab, connected to intelligence and no one else could use it. My predecessor used to lock the door and sleep off his hangover, so anything I did was welcome.

We soon decided on a major project photographing low level aerials of the Rhine River crossings in our area. I decided to produce a photographically printed book and located 12/24” Gaevert document weight paper which I used to print 5 copies. I think there were 300 prints. At night I dried them on the tile hallway floor and after several months we had the work ready for the bindery.

At that time I didn’t know that you had pioneered low leveI aerial reconnaissance, possibly in some of the areas where I was shooting on the French-German border. I know you would have enjoyed hearing about my misadventures, especially our landings in potato fields .( Pilot’s Question: “Do you think we can land there? My answer “No”, and then we would land). I know I should have written you but my outburst from that hospital made me ashamed. Where I grew up, New England in the 1940’s , you could always find something to be ashamed of and I did.

Do you remember it was Brodovitch who sent me to see you. In one of his workshop sessions he said “You are responsible for everything that has come before you.” I think he meant that every photographer is responsible for knowing the visual history of photography. That scared me, because I hadn’t anchored my own philosophy and didn’t want to become a clone of some “famous” photographer. But you knew it was important and had your assistant, Grace Mayer show me portfolios. It gave me a taste of excellence but didn’t change my outlook. You knew it wouldn’t . In fact I don’t think my outlook has changed since I started making photographs over sixty years ago. I now know who I am photographically and it’s about time.

After the army there was my Family of Man adventure. I had just come out of the army and Wayne Miller called to say you would like me to submit work for consideration for that project. I quickly set up a temporary darkroom in my sister’s bathroom and made several prints which in my haste I signed “Zim” I also selected some of my color photographs. You chose three color works and a print of “Zizi L’Escale, Paris 1952”. Of course the color didn’t make it because you decided to include only one: “ The Atomic Bomb.” Wayne told me that my signature “Zim” made you angry because you thought I was trying to parrot “Chim.” It is too late to let you know I didn’t know Chim’s work at that time and Zim was my code name at PIX Inc. Anyway, Zizi didn’t make the final cut, but I was happy you liked the image. I have exhibited that photograph in Canada, the U.S., Japan and Spain,so it has been seen. Later when MOMA acquired some of my work, the purchases were made through The Family of Man Fund. So that was another circle completed.

That’s history. More history is my relationsip with Milwaukee, the city where you grew up. A friend told me about a wonderful woman from Milwaukee he had met while studying in Paris. He planned to marry her . He didn’t , I did. That is Elaine Sernovitz who I married in 1955. Direct, smart, and creative..is that a Milwaukee thing? I wish you had met her. The times we went to visit my in-laws with our four children I did a lot of photography in your city . That would have been 56 years after the portraits which you made there in 1899!

Jump ahead to your photographs of sunflowers. I am in awe of those works. I didn’t know them when in 1976 I planted ten acres of sunflowers on our Bona Fide Farm in Prince Edward Island, Canada. I took several 8/10 color poloroids of those beautiful plants, but felt I could never catch the essence, so I stopped trying. When it was time to harvest, I cut off the tops with a machete, stripped the seeds off the heads, mixed them with buckwheat that I had grown and created a wonderful chickenfeed. It lasted through most of the winter.

I have some thoughts on your photography that I want to share, but first want you to know that your right hand tech man from WWII, Marty Forscher lives just south of here in Pittsfield, Mass. with his wife, Marion. We talk and he always has stories about you which is why we never get off the phone. One of the many special cameras he built now rests forever on the moon. It was left when they had to lighten the load of one of the space vehicles. How is that for aerial photography!

Back to the book. The emphasis in this book on your “lives” rather than your “life” is clearly a reference to your changes in approach, both as to subject matter and technique, but never in spirit. There is an expression now: “All Good” and it clearly refers to everything you touched photographically. The range is amazing. What you touched, touches the viewer and that’s what great photography is about. So, bravo for your life. We will be able to enjoy what you produced for a very long time.
george s. zimbel
montreal quebec canada 2008

There are certain clients, galleries, & collectors that have a special place in a long photographic career. LOOK magazine was one. They had their own wonderful staff with Arthur Rothstein, Stanley Kubrick, Jim Karales, John Vachon and other great photographers. So why did they use a freelancer to do a certain project? They understood that each serious photographer has a special voice, and they wanted to match that voice to the story at hand. Usually the work went to a member of the staff, but sometimes a freelance would get the assignment, and so it happened that I was assigned to do an essay in 1957 on Mickey Rooney. He is still going strong and so am I.

Here’s how it worked with LOOK: A staff writer was assigned and would lay out a general plan for the story, making all the arrangements to facilitate the photography. Then the shooting began and writer morphed into a helper, doing whatever was necessary to make sure that the photographer could work without impediments. So far, nothing unusual. What was unusual happened after the shoot. They preferred freelancers to develop, edit and print the story. Then came a meeting with the managing editor (Dan Mich, I think) who would look at the prints, and take a quick look at the contacts. Then it went to the art department for layout. When the layout was completed you received a call from the art director Alan Hurlburt to come up to the office to give your comments on the spread. This was very unusual, and was not just a polite gesture. He really wanted to know if it worked the way you wanted it to work. If it didn’t, changes were made. So, that’s how it was done at LOOK. Oh, another thing… they wanted all rights to the work so that both staff and freelance photographs would be in their archive. That must sound familiar to the photographers working today, but there is a difference..they paid triple the going rate for the additional rights!

When LOOK closed it’s doors, the entire archive was donated to the Library of Congress by the Cowles family where it is being properly archived under Barbara O. Natanson, Head, Reference Section Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Barbara’s note that she could not lend me the negative, but could send me a high res scan of my Mickey Rooney photograph was fine. There was also a mention about it’s being thin and slightly scratched, but I was too excited to care.

So, here’s the picture, it’s 51 years old.

Mickey Rooney at NBC studio, NYC 1957 © George S. Zimbel

When we moved from the farm to Montreal in the 1980’s, we really enjoyed the return to urban life  but still had a longing for trees, water, and the quiet of the country. Did I mention fishing?

We found a wonderful chalet that was was minimalist in upkeep, but spacious & comfortable. [Also would make a great studio…big windows in the roof. ]

We now seem to be too busy to really enjoy it, so it is up for sale. For a first look, go to:
The Zimbel Chalet
An then call Elaine for further details. (514 849 5565)

Woman with reference cards 1960’s ©George S. Zimbel 1962/2008

Trying to reorganise my filing system, I found a negative of a woman with file cards…the pre-computer way to find books in a library. I scanned it and put it in a “special place” until I had time to print . Of course I couldn’t find it when I was ready to print. “Special places” are great for hiding stuff. I don’t give up and I don’t really loose negatives, so last week when it surfaced I headed for the darkroom and made a small edition (6) of 11/14″ prints. You can order one from me or any of my good dealers .  I won’t reprint it. I am satisfied that it is now exists .

A Photographer’s Welcome - Catalunya Music Palace , Barcelona 2008

My exhibition, “Energy” opened at Kowasa Gallery in Barcelona on 9 April and will be on the wall until 31 May.

The day before the exhibit opened , Elaine and I were visiting the Catalunya Music Palace and were planning to have lunch in the courtyard. There were no chairs available and one of the other guests at a nearby table went inside and brought us chairs. I said gracias and gave him an invitation to the exhibit. Then I went to make a phone call.

When I came back this was my reception . The gentleman and his daughter came to the opening…she is a photography student.

Almost everyone agrees that having one shot of scotch can be a pleasure, but ten shots will be a disaster. The same can be said of taking photographs.

I am not talking about photographers who are on assignment.. they have many demands that have nothing to do with wonderful photographs and yet they very often they produce wonderful photographs.

I am talking about serious photography, either amateur or professional. I am talking about a serious connection with your subject and serious understanding of when the elements are in place for your photograph.

Digital diahhrea is a disease for which there is a simple cure. Take one frame of a scene. It is exquisite training for your eye and your brain. Try it for a month. Then try it for another month…then try it for another month…..