Kurt Markus in 2019. Portrait by Christopher Keels.
Kurt Markus has died, on June 12th, of Parkinson's disease and Lewy body disease. He was best known for his portraits of cowboys and the American West. He also did commercial work, mainly fashion, and is known for his photography of boxing. He was also one of a once common but now dying breed, a photographer who printed his own work in the darkroom and considered that side of the craft to be integral to his art.
Hampton Sides has written a beautiful essay about Kurt at Staley-Wise:
Markus, who lived much of his adult life in Kalispell, Montana, was a devoted husband and father, and a loyal friend known for his calm demeanor, his dry sense of humor, and his deep sense of personal honor. "When I think of Kurt," recalled one of his closest friends, Buzz Shiely, "I see a thoughtful, honest man, smiling at me from beneath a black Stetson." Suzy Moore, a longtime family friend who served as Markus’s studio manager, described him as "such a perfect human—kind, modest, a warm spirit. Wherever he went, he was always just Kurt: A regular guy happy with simple things."
The essay is excellent, a fine window into the life.
An example of Markus's fashion work
He went after a quality of "raw authenticity," of "unslickness," Sides tells us. You can see more of his work at the gallery, and in his books, including his three best-known, Cowpuncher, Buckaroo, and After Barbed Wire, all of which are out of print. He was 75.
Mike
(Thanks to Chris Keels and Oren Grad)
Book o' the Week:
Inspiration Leica Akademie (English and German Edition). A "group show" of 76 Leica Akademie photographers from 16 countries worldwide, curated by Heidi and Robert Mertens. It looks to me like this is going out of print soon, so act soon if you want one.
The book link is your portal to Amazon from TOP, should you choose to support the site.
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Well, I went and looked at his photos, and read the full article from the gallery, even if I didn't comment (until after you mentioned this got no comments).
I found myself considering rather short and somewhat flip comments (like "that fashion work doesn't make me think Kalispell MT!"), and eventually deciding that his life and body of work deserved better. And I didn't have anything broader or deeper.
Posted by: David Dyer-Bennet | Friday, 17 June 2022 at 12:36 PM