gns
Well-known
In 1964, a New York documentary film maker named Harold Becker, made a short film called "Eugene Atget". Ten or fifteen minutes of the camera slowly moving across Atget's images (Ken Burns must have studied this film) set to music by Eric Satie (Trois Gymnopedies). A synthesis of two artist's work, and a perfect marriage of sound and image. If you studied Film making or photography (or probably music) in the sixties or seventies you likely saw it. Becker later went on to a career directing Hollywood features (The Onion Field, Sea of Love, Malice).
I saw the film a couple of times but it sort of disappeared from my memory until the other day. I was wasting some time on you tube and came across this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFHBy25gIWY. My first reaction was excitment that somebody had posted Becker's film, but a little ways in, I started to think it was probably just a pretty blatant imitation of the Becker original (even using the exact same piece of music). I didn't see any credit given to becker so I started searching the internet for info on the original film. I didn't find much about the film, but I did find a New Yorker article (http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/11/27/061127crat_atlarge) about a photographer named Jerry Shore.
I had never heard of Jerry Shore, but he had worked with Becker on the Atget film. Later he became a very successful commercial director but after an unsuccessful stint in Hollywood, he returned to New York where he spent the last several years of his life relentlessly photographing the NYC landscape. It appears he sold only one picture, but left behind some 4 thousand! A small handful are viewable on the Metropolitan Museum's web site. They are interesting cityscapes, but largely unpeopled (not unlike Atget's Paris photographs).
I just thought this was an interesting discovery/connection and would like to find out more about this guy. Anyone familiar with his work?
And, does anyone know where the Atget film can be viewed?
Cheers,
Gary
I saw the film a couple of times but it sort of disappeared from my memory until the other day. I was wasting some time on you tube and came across this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFHBy25gIWY. My first reaction was excitment that somebody had posted Becker's film, but a little ways in, I started to think it was probably just a pretty blatant imitation of the Becker original (even using the exact same piece of music). I didn't see any credit given to becker so I started searching the internet for info on the original film. I didn't find much about the film, but I did find a New Yorker article (http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/11/27/061127crat_atlarge) about a photographer named Jerry Shore.
I had never heard of Jerry Shore, but he had worked with Becker on the Atget film. Later he became a very successful commercial director but after an unsuccessful stint in Hollywood, he returned to New York where he spent the last several years of his life relentlessly photographing the NYC landscape. It appears he sold only one picture, but left behind some 4 thousand! A small handful are viewable on the Metropolitan Museum's web site. They are interesting cityscapes, but largely unpeopled (not unlike Atget's Paris photographs).
I just thought this was an interesting discovery/connection and would like to find out more about this guy. Anyone familiar with his work?
And, does anyone know where the Atget film can be viewed?
Cheers,
Gary
simonSE15
Established
great article.