Peter Gowland - Consummate Professional RIP

[CameraQuest]

Today March 28, 2010 the Los Angeles Times reported the passing of legendary glamour photographer Peter Gowland, age 93

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-peter-gowland28-2010mar28,0,7465485.story

Peter set a high standard for what a well rounded professional photographer could aspire to. Not content with over a 1000 magazine covers, he was a successful author with 26 how to books on glamour photography, designed and built his own large format 4x5 Twin Lens Reflex, the Gowlandflex as well as other cameras, and tirelessly shared his expertise with his fellow photogs via lectures and seminars. Peter was arguably the most successful and most famous glamour photographer of the 1950's and 1960's. Many of his pics were covers on Popular Photography and Modern Photography. A favorite small camera of his was the compact rangefinder Olympus RC.

Peter showed photogs by example that with hard wark and dedication we could be multi-faceted in photography and successful at all of them! If all of that was not enough, he was a successful family man and really a nice guy.

Peter Gowland will be missed.

Stephen

 

[Finder]

But what a grand and long run. A wonderful individual.

 

[robklurfield]

Stephen, thanks for the post.

There are a couple of Gowlandflexes for sale now on eBay. One has an electrically-driven shutter that appears to run off 110v house current.

Does anyone think that 50 or 80 years from now people will be reading about the "giants" of our era of digitally-dominated photography? I haven't reached a conclusion on that one myself. But, we are certainly witnessing the passing of an awful lot of true masters.

 

[charjohncarter]

This guy was Mr. Southern California. Here is his site which has been updated to show that he has died. You will see what I mean by Mr. SC and then check some of his early work; like Gow Pool.

http://www.petergowland.com/

I guess I should edit, there are nudes.

 

[robklurfield]

John, thanks for links to his site. You're not kidding when you call him Mr. SC.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Peter Gowland was open, honest, modest and bloody good. I only ever spoke to him a few times on the phone, but he never had any 'side' to him. He was an enthusiast like the rest of us (though a lot better than most of us). My heart goes out to Alice. They seemed very much in love.

R.

 

[wlewisiii]

The NY Times has an obituary today:

Peter Gowland, a Photographer Whose Women Graced 1,000 Magazine Cover, Dies at 93

William

 

[LeicaTom]

OMG!

I just read this news......Peter Gowland is WHY I shoot my retro pinups, he is a great driving force behnd my work, he was a genius, I'm deeply saddened by this news.

I have talked to his wife Alice many mnay times, but I never had a chance to talk to my #1 Photographer Idol of all time, it's too late now 🙁

Peter may you rest in peace.

Tom

 

[charjohncarter]

OMG!

I just read this news......Peter Gowland is WHY I shoot my retro pinups, he is a great driving force behnd my work, he was a genius, I'm deeply saddened by this news.

I have talked to his wife Alice many mnay times, but I never had a chance to talk to my #1 Photographer Idol of all time, it's too late now 🙁

Peter may you rest in peace.

Tom

When I first saw your pin-up posts here I thought of Peter Gowland. I was/am a big fan of his too. (going back to his ads in Modern and Pop in the early sixties.)

 

[dmr]

This is the first I've heard of this! 🙁

I became familiar with Peter's work both from the photo magazines in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but (LOL) also from my brothers' stash of Playboys. (Hey, boys will be boys!)

I was particularly impressed by his handcrafted LF TLR and SLRs.

MHRIP! 🙁

 

[oftheherd]

Sorry to hear of his passing. He was very well known. I think anyone who took photos and read the magazines in the 60s and 70s would have seen him in print many times. But glamor sort of went away, and he became less well known. Still, many knew of his cameras and wished. When I first saw his Gowlandflex, I was astonished. I thought why would you want that big a camera. Then I thought, well for the big negatives, of course, and in a TLR. Duh.

 

[LeicaTom]

When I first saw your pin-up posts here I thought of Peter Gowland. I was/am a big fan of his too. (going back to his ads in Modern and Pop in the early sixties.)

I dragged my heels in getting a First Edition book to Alice for him to Autograph, it's too late now 🙁 ~ but I did get his graces from Alice once over the phone ~ she said to me a comment he made to her after seeing my work online ~

"why, you shoot photos that look just like photos we used to do, is there a market for that sort of stuff nowadays?"

That was maybe the GREATEST compliment I could have ever received from anyone.......

His Underwater Glamour Photography was years ahead of it's time

Goddess of the Art Nude Diane Webber, photographed by Peter Gowland (ca. 1957)

Funny in a conversation I had with Bunny Yeager about 4 years ago, I told her that I'd admired her work for years, but I told her honestly, that she, WAS'NT my greatest idol/driving force, but that
Peter Gowland was, and she laughed and said ~

"well, Tom if it was'nt for Peter, I NEVER would have become a photographer!"

She really looked up to him and started her PinUp Legacy of Photography with Peter's influence's. 😀

But, he was the "king" there just was'nt anyone else, who did it quite like he could.....



Miss March 1957 Sandra Edwards, photographed for Playboy Magaazine by the man who started it all in Glamour Biz ~ Peter Gowland.

Tom