Peter Gowland 1916-2010

Agh, we've lost Peter Gowland. I just heard. Glamor photographer, camera inventor, all-around photographic raconteur, a fixture on the scene.

I'd like to take this opportunity to re-publish a brief piece that our friend Oren Grad wrote for this site about Peter on the occasion of Peter's 90th birthday, in April, 2006:

The multitalented Peter Gowland—Hollywood bit actor, renowned glamor photographer, camera builder extraordinaire, and all-around fun guy—turned 90 last week. I leave it to the more scholarly types to opine on the esthetic and cultural significance of the Gowland photo-oeuvre; his cool cameras are just as worthy of celebration.

Gowland developed at least five distinct large-format designs—a lightweight monorail view camera, an architectural camera, an aerial camera, a single-lens reflex and a twin-lens reflex—most of which have been offered in multiple formats and with a wide array of custom variations available to meet the needs of each purchaser. Perhaps the most exotic are the 4x5 Gowland SLR and the monster 8x10 Gowlandflex TLR. (Click here and scroll down a couple of rows to see the 5x7 TLR in action on the beach, photographing Raquel Welch.) At the other extreme is the ubiquitous 4x5 Gowland Pocket View monorail, co-marketed for a time by Calumet, which turns up regularly on eBay and on used equipment shelves and which can still be purchased new from Gowland.

I've owned three Gowlands over the years. My first, a very early 8x10 monorail purchased used, was a truly spartan design—little more than a bellows riding on a pipe. (With time, the Pocket View design was refined to make it easier to use and more functional.) Later, Peter built for me an ultralight 5x7 short-rail view camera intended for field work with a 180mm lens, and then a bag-bellows version of his 6x9cm 'baby' monorail. Each time, it was a pleasure doing business. Peter would answer the phone himself, and spend the time to understand what I was hoping to accomplish and brainstorm about what he might cobble together in his shop that would be a good match.

I've linked to a few pages from the Gowland website, but it's worth the time to explore the whole thing, starting from the top. It's chock full of fun stuff about his life and work, with plenty of surprises for those who don't already know about him. Have a look and join me in a toast to Peter Gowland: a very happy 90th, and best wishes for many more years of good health and photo fun!

—Oren Grad

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Mike
(Thanks to Oren)

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by David A. Goldfarb: "When I bought my first large format camera on eBay—a Gowland 8x10" PocketView that I still use—I had to order a few small items like lensboards and an extension rail, so I sent a letter to an address I found online, and Peter Gowland called me himself to check on the details of my lensboards. I think he really just wanted to talk to someone who was using one of his cameras, because he loved chatting about them and finding out what people were up to. We've periodically stayed in contact since then through e-mail. He was a true gentleman."

Comments

[Bill Mitchell]

The world will be a poorer place without him.

[Paul]

paging through the crazy cameras he made, one thing I think will always be true: film is infinitely cooler than digital.

[Ken Tanaka]

I'm not certain but Peter Gowland may have been the first glamor photographer I recognized. By that I mean the first photographer whose name I associated with a genre...long before I gave a spit about photography.

[misha]

My gawd, when I first started looking at his photographs, I went nuts with envy.

He was a brilliant person.

[Eduardo Cervantes]

Well, this hurts and don't. I bet he had a good life. Peter was one of a kind. Photographer extraordinaire and accomplished inventor and craftman. This 3 things in many way its what any photographer should thrive to achieve. Photography is all that.

[Mark Tucker]

I purchased a couple of his twin-lens 4x5's through the years. He was always upbeat and curious when I'd call him about finding the right lenses to mount on his cameras, or find the best way to use them on location. Fascinating guy. Loved life. He loved to find out how people were using his cameras, so he could constantly improve them. I was a fellow camera-tinkerer for a while, and we'd compare ideas on the phone. I began to think of him as my Photo Grandfather. My heart sank when I saw the Obit notice yesterday. He was a fine man.

[Gordon Lewis]

I once interviewed Peter Gowland for an article in Petersen's Photographic Magazine. As others have noted, he was a true gentleman, gracious, and self-effacing. What struck me most was the contrast between his glamourous image--he was tall and handsome in a Baywatch sort of way--and his upbringing as a child of the Depression who had also served in the armed forces during WWII. This gave him a nothing-goes-to-waste, tinkerers mentality. I remember him showing me a rolling light stand whose base had come from the remains of an office task chair.

As for his photographs, they're not so different in style and content than what you'd see if you click the "joyful nudes" link on TOP's home page. Select poses less revealing of the reproductive organs, convert them to black and white, and you've got classic Peter Gowland glamour shots. As the saying goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

[Tom K.]

The King of Jayne Mansfield photos. It's a sad day for the world of photography.

Rest in peace.

[Kevin Bourque]

I was never really crazy about his photos, but man, he had a terrific life even without my approval ;-) Well done, Mr Gowland.

[Dennis Ng]

I nearly bought one second hand and hence come to his web site. He is a very handsome man.

Someone mentioned "joyful nudes". I have a bit worry quite sometimes now as my eye always found something quite adult content on the left column of TOP. No, it is not about the joyful nudes but about the beautiful landscape picture. It might be a bit abstract but could I say that it is too explicit for the office?

[Ahem]

He will be missed, but the photography remains.

[Rod S.]

"A life lived well" is the expression that comes to mind after viewing his website. What an industrious, clever, loving and fun person he was.

Just this week I enjoyed reading a few of Peter Gowland's regular columns that appeared in Popular Photography in the early 1960s. His youthful and very handsome face beams down at the top of each page. In one article he disclosed how he had enabled the naked model to float in the water by stretching two lines of monofilament nylon beneath her (one line held by "the willing client"). In the May 1962 issue he urged girls who hoped to become models to get outside and exercise and not lead a life of dissipation with late nights, smoking and sitting around eating. The article was accompanied by a low-angled shot of a model in a one-piece swimsuit that caught the eye of my partner, who said "Wow, what a sexy shot!"

He also mentions his dislike for what he called the current trend towards thinness in models. He still sounds up-to-date.

[hugh crawford]

A life well lived.

[Roger Bradbury]

We've been talking about imaginary cameras recently, but this dude imagined cameras then went out and built them. And what cameras!

[Michael Costolo]

I have spoken with Peter and Alice several times over the last few years. He just finished my 8x10 a few months ago - perhaps the last camera he made. Words can't express my sadness right now.