Portraits by Roy Schatt

Since I don't have a birthdate for Roy Schatt, I haven't been able to post one of my birthday threads on Twitter. So I'll include some of my favourite Schatt portraits here. He's best known for his shots of James Dean, but I find nearly all of his portraits arresting in their simplicity.

This is probably Schatt's best known photograph, of James Dean in New York. It was taken on December 29, 1954 for Life magazine, though it was never published there. Schatt took a whole series of photos at that session, called today the "Torn Sweater" series. "He clicked, I clicked, and the photos clicked," said Schatt.

Roy Schatt's famous 1954 portrait of James Dean walking down 68th Street in New York anticipates two later famous photographs:

Dennis Stock's iconic shot of Dean at Times Square, from the following year, 1955, and...

Don Hunstein's hot of Bob Dylan & Suze Rotolo, used on the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, released in May 1963.

But back to Roy Schatt: here's his wonderful photo of Dorothy Parker, from 1953.

Malcolm X by Roy Schatt, 1964.

An undated photo of Count Basie and Duke Ellington by Roy Schatt.

Sidney Poitier by Roy Schatt, 1957.

This is a really special photograph of Marilyn Monroe from 1957, by Roy Schatt. She was a great actress in front of a still camera, possibly better than in any of her motion pictures. But this just seems to be Marilyn.

Another informal Roy Schatt shot of Marilyn, this time from 1958. A bit more glamour here.

Marilyn nearly always knew exactly where the camera was; she had a special rapport with so many different photographers over the years, right until her last photo session with Bert Stern.

Roy Schatt, Tennessee Williams Backstage at Circle in the Square during "Summer and Smoke", 1953.

Dizzy Gillespie by Roy Schatt, c. 1957.



 

Geraldine Page by Roy Schatt, 1950s.

I love the sub-genre of "X shoots back", where the subject of a photoshoot gets on the other side of the camera. Here's a Roy Schatt shot of James Dean with a Rolleiflex, from 1954.

In this case, James Dean turned the tables, and got this fabulous shot of Roy Schatt. Who knows what kind of a photographer we lost when Dean crashed his Porsche on September 30, 1955.

Portraits by Abe Frajndlich

Today is Abe Frajndlich's birthday; I posted my usual long Twitter thread, but Frajndlich has so many great portraits, I'll add a bunch here.

Robert Altman by Abe Frajndlich, 1994. Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

Abe Frajndlich, Gilbert and George, New York City, October 1991

Abe Frajndlich, Cindy Sherman combing blond wig, Walker Street Studio, April, 1987

Jim Jarmusch by Abe Frajndlich, 1992. Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

Robert Duvall by Abe Frajndlich, 1998. Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

Abe Frajndlich, Evelyn Hofer with Still Life, New York, April 12, 1988

Minor White by Abe Frajndlich, "Grit/Total Bags," Gloucester, Massachusetts, October 25, 1975



 

Ilse Bing by Abe Frajndlich, 1986. In the mirror is Ilse Bing's famous self-portrait, from 1931.

Jane Fonda by Abe Frajndlich, November 3, 1970. This was taken on the campus of Case Western Reserve University; Frajndlich is a Clevelander and a CWR alum.

Louise Dahl-Wolfe by Abe Frajndlich. From his 2011 book Penelope's Hungry Eyes.

Annie Leibovitz by Abe Frajndlich, Sagaponack, New York, 1991

Bill Brandt by Abe Frajndlich, London, 1980

Arnold Newman by Abe Frajndlich, from Penelope's Hungry Eyes.

Elliott Erwitt, New York, 1988. Another photo from Abe Frajndlich's book of photographer portraits, Penelope's Hungry Eyes.

For the Richard Avedon Centennial, a portrait I haven't seen before, by Abe Frajndlich, 1992.

This is remarkable: Gordon Parks by Abe Frajndlich, 1989

Abe Frajndlich, London, 1972

Portraits by Cecil Beaton

Cecil Beaton was a celebrity portrait photographer who revelled in his own celebrity. Here are some of my favourites of his portraits.

Katharine Hepburn by Cecil Beaton, Vanity Fair, 1935

In his 1937 Scrapbook Beaton said of Hepburn, "...in close proximity she's very like any exceedingly animated & delightful hockey mistress at a Physical Training College." 

Irving Penn by Cecil Beaton, 1950. A wonderful portrait of another great photographer.

Kay Kendall by Cecil Beaton, 1957

Isaiah Berlin by Cecil Beaton, 1955

 

Gertrude Stein & Alice B. Toklas by Cecil Beaton, 1945. With their dog Basket.

Cecil Beaton's wonderful shot of Truman Capote in Morocco, 1949.

Marilyn Monroe by Cecil Beaton, 1956. National Portrait Gallery, London.

Cecil Beaton's remarkable portrait of Audrey Hepburn in costume for My Fair Lady, Vogue, 1963.

Jean-Paul Sartre by Cecil Beaton, c. 1946.

Julie Andrews & Rex Harrison at Covent Garden Market, 1956. Though most of Cecil Beaton's portraits were made in his studio, this is one of his greatest photographs.

Vivien Leigh by Cecil Beaton for Vogue, 1946.

Greta Garbo by Cecil Beaton, 1946.

Beaton went to Hollywood in 1931, with the main goal of seeing Garbo. He only managed to come across her once at a party. In 1946 they became great friends, & probably lovers. Beaton said later that he once proposed marriage.

Garbo laughs! I love Cecil Beaton's informal photographs from 1948.

Cecil Beaton photographs Marilyn Monroe at the Ambassador Hotel in New York. A photo by Ed Pfizenmaier, February 22, 1956.

A great portrait of Cecil Beaton by Erwin Blumenfeld, from the 1940s.


Recommended: Cecil Beaton’s Bright Young Things, 2020

Also: Cecil Beaton: Portraits and Profiles, 2017