Lost Ziegfeld Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston

Alfred Cheney Johnston [see the first Featured Comment below for details]

By Ava Land

Alfred Cheney Johnston was discovered by Flo Ziegfeld of the famed Ziegfeld Follies. Flo was a master of publicity and when he saw what "Cheney" was capable of creating with a large studio camera and glass plate negatives, Ziegfeld hired the young photographer on the spot. Cheney was shrewd beyond his years thanks to being mentored by family friend and famous illustrator Charles Dana Gibson who became famous for the Gibson Girl drawings. Gibson advised Cheney to make sure every photograph of his had the name, Alfred Cheney Johnston, clearly stamped on it. Thanks to that bit of advice Cheney would become world reknown [sic] for his amazingly beautiful photographs of the gorgeous stars of the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway...

READ ON at articlesbase.com

[articlesbase.com bio] Ava Land is a freelance magazine and web writer. For more information on the stunning photographic images of Alfred Cheney Johnston go to: http://alfredcheneyjohnston.com.

Mike
(Thanks to Eolake)

Ed. Note: A wistful, semitragic story, I thought, of a photographer done in by another depression. Eolake and I aren't sure if the photograph here is by A.C.J. or not, although it sure looks like one of his to me. Does anybody have the book? Also, A.C.J. is no relation to me, at least as far as I know—although if you go back far enough, to the 1500s and earlier, we're doubtless both distant scions of the same eponymous Scottish border clan. Inset: Gibson Girl 32-cent postage stamp.  —MJ

Featured Comment by Eric: "Page 111 of Jazz Age Beauties: "Helen Henderson, ca. 1922–25. Henderson appeared in the Follies of 1923 and 1925 and played the part of 'Other Hostess' in Night Hostess in 1928."

Mike replies: Thanks Eric!

Comments

[juze]

Of course, the girl would be deemed horrendously fat by Ralph Lauren ...
An interesting article, thanks.

[robert e]

Thanks for the post, Mike & Eolake.

Another victim of the crusade against pictorialism (among other historical factors)? The official site was disappointing in that there are few photos and the youtube video it links to has been taken down.

So, on this lazy Sunday, I tried the Lib. of Congress site, but the A.C. Johnston collection has not been digitized for the web. [Did, however find another photographer named Johnston: Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/131.html whose work can be seen on line.]

But there is a rather exhaustive and scholarly effort to identify Ziegfeld Girls here:

http://users.dakotacom.net/~tjrasa/

which links to her own large collection of mostly ACJ photos:

http://ziegfeldgrrl.multiply.com/photos

as well as other collections, on line and off.

I wasn't sure if those sites would hold up to a mob visitation via T.O.P. publicity, but if the photo you posted is attributed anywhere, I bet it would be there or at one of her resources.

[Carl Leonardi]

Lots of his photo's on Google images. Johnston produced some Beautiful photographs of women.
Thanks again for rolling back the clock of great photographers.

[David]

Wow, incredibly sexy woman and photograph.

Look at her hands, gorgeous repetition.