Kenny Rogers, Lincoln Memorial. Kenny Rogers died last Friday.
This was one of his five favorite shots. The figure to the left
almost feels like a symbolic cameo by the photographer,
doesn't it?
I never knew much about the singer Kenny Rogers, credited with bringing a pop sensibility to country—or a country sensibility to pop, whichever you choose ("I've always been too pop for country and too country for pop," he said in 2001). All I can recall is a song called "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" that I didn't like when I heard it on my transistor radio walking home from school in 1969. The song turns out to be a cover—it was written by Mel Tillis, the country music star. It didn't seem to go well with the British Invasion and Motown stuff that made up a lot of the rest of what the station played. I confess that 12-year-old me didn't know what the lyrics meant.
What I never knew is that he was a devoted and passionate photographer who was just as talented at photography as he was at his chosen kind of music. He studied under John Sexton and the Canadian photographers George Hurrell and Yousuf Karsh, and made medium- and large-format landscapes and scenic pictures as well as portraits of his famous friends and other celebrity musicians. You can see his five personal favorite photographs (one of which is the posed shot at the Lincoln Memorial above) in an article at Sports & Entertainment Nashville. The article by Bill Hobbs is nice too.
"I am an impulsive obsessive," Rogers said. "I impulsively get involved with something, and then I get obsessed with it. So that’s what happened with photography." Know the feeling?
Another good article about his photography is at The Guardian. All the articles seem to repeat that he started out with "a 35mm Brownie Hawkeye." Repetitions like that are markers of the news getting the news from the news—the Hawkeye was a 620 rollfilm camera. Camera geekery aside, the Guardian author, Thomas Hobbs (any relation to the Sports & Entertainment Nashville author?), said his photographs have "real depth...it's as if he was suggesting that America, even at its most beautiful, had something sinister lurking in the darkness." He adds of one portrait that "arguably, Rogers captured the unnerving bombast of [Michael] Jackson’s eccentric celebrity more clearly than just about any other photographer." Jackson sang backup on one song from Rogers' 11th studio album, Share Your Love, produced by Lionel Ritchie in 1981.
There's a great portrait of Rogers in his prime by the proto-paparazzo Ron Galella at this link. I dare not reproduce it here.
He published a number of books of his work, including Kenny Rogers: This Is My Country (58 Stunning Portraits of Country Music's Heart & Soul), Kenny Rogers' America, and his book of landscapes, American Beauty. None are still in print as far as I can tell; American Beauty might have sold out just since his death, and might be available again.
In his later years, he regularly posted his photos on Instagram. Including "Lincoln Memorial."
We're always diminished when one of our number succumbs, whether they're famous for photography or for something else or not. Kenny Rogers was 81. Godspeed, fellow photo obsessive.
Mike
(Thanks to many tipsters)
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TOP—too arty for the geeks and too geeky for the art world
(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
Dogman: "I met him many years ago during an interview for the paper where I was working. He was a very articulate man who seemed highly intelligent and not at all 'star-like.' I recall him saying something about considering his singing to be a business as much as an art. Later I found out about his interest in photography. I also recall seeing a fellow in the distance who looked remarkably like him photographing in Yellowstone National Park about twenty years ago. But I've been told I used to look like Kenny Rogers myself—tall, grey hair and beard—so who knows. Maybe just another lookalike."
Mike Ferron: "Extra points if you remember Kenny as a psychadelic rocker...."
John Sexton: "Anne and I were deeply saddened when we woke last Saturday morning to the news that our friend Kenny Rogers had passed away. My friendship with Kenny spanned more than thirty-five years. We met in 1984 when I conducted a private printing workshop in his darkroom. The workshop was his Christmas gift from his wife. Our mentoring relationship instantly became a friendship. His passion for photography, and his unstoppable attitude were inspiring.
"We shared many photographic adventures together over the years. Our first photographic trip together was when Kenny was doing a major concert tour with Dolly Parton. We would photograph during the day, and Kenny would perform with Dolly each evening. Early on during that trip I was teaching Kenny the basics of view camera tilts and swings under the seats at the sold out Tacoma Dome as Dolly was performing. Kenny was a moment late getting on stage for the start of his part of the show because he didn’t want to stop the view camera session!
"On more than a few occasions we would work in the darkroom together beyond 3:00 a.m.! He was a legendary entertainer, but most importantly he was a caring, generous, and thoughtful human being who loved his family...and a great and loyal friend. Anne and I will miss him a lot! R.I.P., Kenny."
William Schneider: "Back in the '80s, I recall seeing a magazine story about Kenny's photography. Part of the story showed how he enlisted the police to shut down traffic on a busy bridge so that he could set up a shot. Celebrity has its advantages."
Great post!
Posted by: John Camp | Wednesday, 25 March 2020 at 02:55 PM
There is some great advice from him on the Petapixel story. “I met a guy named George Hurrell, who’s probably the best portrait photographer who ever lived,” recalled Rogers. “He came down to my place in Athens, GA, and he said, ‘I’m gonna tell you the trick. I call it the stolen moment.’ Keep your hand on the cable and talk to them about the happiest day of their life, or about the saddest day of their life, and when they react, take the picture.” https://petapixel.com/2020/03/23/the-late-kenny-rogers-was-a-fantastic-photographer/
Posted by: Zack Schindler | Wednesday, 25 March 2020 at 03:26 PM
Brownie Hawkeye: Don't know if the Kodak Pony 135 was it's cousin but I purchased version 3 in the Fall of 1959.That Pony was a terrific camera to learn all the basics of photography. You could set the aperture, and speed. You could also guess the distance to subject.
One of my projects was walking all over the neighborhood and taking photos of interesting homes. Funny thing I'm still doing that.
I mostly used Kodak Plus-X and Ektachrome. I think at the time they both had the same ASA. I think.
The fun day was going to Disneyland and taking pictures from every vantage point that Kodak recommended.
In 1964 I went up to San Francisco and got a job in a camera store. San Francisco has a photography center in it's own building. It's still there. Unfortunately I discovered the place shortly before I got a notice to take the physical so back to Southern California and shortly thereafter into the Marines.
My brother took the camera while I was in the Marines and then shortly dropped it on the lens and disabling the camera.
Posted by: John Krill | Wednesday, 25 March 2020 at 03:52 PM
That Kenny Rogers was a photographer was no surprise to me. Back in the late 1980s I ordered a catalog from the now-defunct Calumet Photographic in Chicago. I got the catalog. At some point I also received a magazine from Calumet that featured an article on Kenny Rogers' portrait photography, including some photos he had taken of friends like Elizabeth Taylor. The work was a bit formulaic (a bit heavy on the hair backlighting), but was definitely well crafted. The photo you included at the beginning of this post is very, very good. I can understand why it was one of Rogers' favorites.
A number of talented people have talents in multiple areas. Tony Curtis and Anthony Quinn were both artists - Curtis was a painter, and Quinn was both a painter and a sculptor. Cy Young-award-winning pitcher Randy Johnson is also a very good photographer. Perhaps take a look at his website rj51photos.com to see what he photographs. Good work!
Posted by: Craig Yuill | Wednesday, 25 March 2020 at 07:47 PM
I enjoyed his voice, but the only record that I have of his work is "The Ballad of Calico." Speaking of Mel Tillis, he was the lead singer in Bob Wills' country swing band.
jw
Posted by: Jim Witkowski | Thursday, 26 March 2020 at 09:19 AM
Thanks for this MJ... it’s why I, for one, keep coming back.
Posted by: Chris Y. | Thursday, 26 March 2020 at 10:14 AM
I always wondered why so many musicians seem to gravitate to photography? I certainly wouldn't compare myself to Kenny Rogers, but those are my two passions as well. I don't understand why though.
Posted by: Jeff1000 | Thursday, 26 March 2020 at 12:15 PM
I didn't know he was a photographer, and from what I've seen, he was a good photographer too. I'm impressed.
Posted by: Dillan | Thursday, 26 March 2020 at 02:19 PM
For Jef1000: I especially love the line about being an automaton, we have such an idea that rockstars live such glamorous lives.
Here’s what Andy Summers of The Police says about how photography helped him cope with the monotony of being on tour for long periods of his life:
“Photography started to become very important to me while I was in The Police. I grew up with European art films. I think somehow this is where it came from, because pretty early on, and certainly within the first year of The Police, I had some pocket money and I realized I could get a really good camera, I thought, “I’ll see whether I can do this photography thing.” I hadn’t had much experience with a camera at the time either.
“There’s some part of me that is definitely a photographer, and throughout pretty much the entire career of The Police, I was always photographing everything and studying it, taking pictures of the band and thinking about making realistic photographs. I was creating weird stuff–I was influenced by Man Ray and people like and– the more intense it became with the band. On tour is you become an automaton who knows how to play 15 songs very well, that’s it. There’s not much more to you than that. This is what happens on the long tours and ours never ended. But I would be off away from the others, away from the band environment, doing photography and I was completely in control of that. So I think that was sort of a cathartic thing for me, which came with the photography. And of course, I also really enjoy it, and I love it, and I like looking at it, and studying it, and being immersed in it. And it’s continued on ever since The Police, of course.”
Posted by: Kenneth Wajda | Thursday, 26 March 2020 at 09:36 PM