David Douglas Duncan on Picasso

[JimG]

"The Private World Of Pablo Picasso" by David Douglas Duncan, The Ridge Press 1958

Photograher David Duncan spent months with Picasso photographing him, his life and his work. Its a great book for anyone interested in Picasso and who enjoys fine camera work. Just wanted to share this.

 

[ampguy]

Interesting. I just finished reading/viewing DDD's "Photo Nomad" which has several photos of Picasso and his assistant and friends. In one photo, Picasso is playing with one of DDD's M3D's.

The guy's (DDD) career is vast, covering fishing and giant squid, several wars, time in occupied Japan with a bit about lens testing with Nikon lenses on his M3's (Canon wasn't interested or didn't return his requests), a lot of mid eastern, oil, russian coverage in times of peace and conflict, the time with Picasso, Mercedes car coverage, some time with movie stars, entertainers (a photo of Pat Metheny playing a bass at age 14). Quite a career. The reading is quite rough though.

An interesting tidbit, is there is a postscript leaflet in this library book which mentions an error on page 3 that mentions all his lenses were 50mm, not 35mm, but p. 3 doesn't have any text about 50mm lenses?? One of the M3D's has a finder on it, not sure why an M3 with 50mm would need a finder. On this page 3 with the 3 M3D's, one has a Nikon lens, another a Canon, not sure of the 3rd.

 

[Chaser]

I just got a copy of DDD's "Picasso & Lump: A Dachshund's Odyssey" which is another one of his books on Picasso that is quite enjoyable.

 

[VinceC]

Duncan started using Nikon lens in 1950, when he was shooting Leica IIICs (The M3 hadn't been introduced). He used a variety of focal lengths, not just 50mm lenses. On the other hand, the majority of his work that I've seen in the 1950s was shot with 50mm lenses.

 

[ampguy]

I'll have to check that out

I'll have to check that out

I didn't quite get the part of his first dog getting lost and the French press getting involved, I think the book assumed the reader had some prior knowledge about this topic.

I just got a copy of DDD's "Picasso & Lump: A Dachshund's Odyssey" which is another one of his books on Picasso that is quite enjoyable.

 

[nksyoon]

The rest of the story is in "Photo Nomad" - his dog was actually "found" by some locals who wanted a "finder's fee". They arranged an exchange where the dog would be returned. I can't remember if the police caught the people responsible.

If you ever get to Lucerne in Switzerland, the Picasso musuem there has many 8x10 (I think) prints of DDD's Picasso photos. That's where I first saw the photos.