jbrianfoto
Established
.....and how I got to meet him.
I discovered his work when, in the fall of 1985, a friend gave me a stack of Guitar Player Magazines, I was 15. The October 1985 issue had a feature on Jim – showed a bunch of his prints, an interview, and a photo of him wearing his signature Corduroy jacket and a Leica M4 on his left shoulder. His images and story shook me. At the time, I only cared about photography. I never gave a hoot for sports, or any of their stars. My heroes were all photographers.
Now I had one more, and he was solidly placed at the top of my very long list.
In the summer of 1986 an old family friend needed someone to fly with their elderly father to San Jose, CA so he could move in with his Son. I was picked to go. After settling in for a week-long stay, my host asked if I’d like to go with him to the office for a morning. I was bored and said sure. Turned out he was a staffer at Guitar Player Magazine. The first words out of my mouth were – “Do you know John Sievert”? John was the chief photographer – I knew his work. This question surprised him, usually a teen aged boy, upon finding out where he worked, asks if he’s met Eddie Van Halen or Stevie Ray Vaughan.
We walked to John’s office – he was delighted to have a fan. We spoke about photography, I showed him some photos, we looked at some of his work. On his wall was a Jim Marshall image (Jimi Hendrix, sound check, Monterrey, CA June 1967) – I asked if he knew Jim – he said yet, but warned me that he was crazy and that he carried a gun in his brief case. Now I was REALLY intrigued.
I left home in 1989 and joined the ARMY. I worked photography into my life as much as I could, but it wasn’t how I made my living. I searched and searched for more of Jim’s images. One day in 1995 I found an article in American Photographer about Jim titled “Still Crazy, after All These Years”. It detailed the rise and fall of Jim’s life; the success, money, drugs, guns, his arrest and the lean years. After reading it I felt like I needed to write him a letter, to tell him how much his work meant to me.
After several drafts, I finally had it done. A fan letter to a photographer who may or may not receive it well – after all I’d read and heard, anything could happen. I didn’t have his address, but I did know someone who could help – Richard Leeds – the photo editor of Guitar Player Magazine. I packaged the letter and a half-dozen prints and sent it all to Rich with a cover letter asking if he could get them to Jim.
3 weeks later I got a voice mail that really shook me – it was the gruff voice of Jim – sounding very sincere and appreciative. He thanked me for caring about his work – and asked me to call him back. We talked for about 15 minutes, he told me he liked my work but said that it all looked soft. Asked me what kind of camera I used, I told him about my Nikon F4. He told me to get rid of it and buy a Leica and a 35mm lens. By the end of our conversation I had an open invitation to visit if I ever ended up in San Francisco.
2 months later I was sent to the Bay area on an 8 day TDY for the ARMY. God is good.
I called ahead, reintroduced myself to Jim and asked if he was free, he said “yeah – come on over”. I arrived with a bottle of John Powers whiskey, a box of prints and my newly purchased Leica M4. He greeted me warmly, accepted the bottle and patted me on the head – told me I was a good boy and that I must have read the article (the American Photo story mentioned that John Power was his favorite whiskey). He introduced me to his assistant at the time (I think her name was Kimberly). We spent the evening going thru his prints, piles and piles of prints. He showed me his vault full of handguns, all customized and finely tuned, showed me his Leica’s and his scrap book of camera ad’s he cut out as a kid. He looked at my prints and told me the things I was going right (very little) and the things I was doing wrong (a lot). Scolded me for not having a copyright stamp with my address and phone number on the back of every print. He also warned me about scumbag (editors and publishers) stealing images. We talked and drank and drank and talked.
Late into the evening we went out for dinner – walked up his street a few blocks to an Italian restaurant. Along the way he pointed to a place where a lady crashed her Volvo sedan. The car rode up on top of the steel pedestrian guard rail and balanced perfectly on top. He shot some photos and sent them to Volvo – thought they’d be interested – but they weren’t. He rattled off the exact body and lens that he used (M6 and 28mm Elmarit).
We ended up back at his apartment – where we finished off the whiskey – and looked at more photos. In his kitchen he picked up my M4 and gave it a good going over. He took off my 35 Summicron and mounted his 90 Summicron and began taking photos of me, sitting at his kitchen table. Then he handed me his very well worn and brassy M4 which had been fitted with an original Leicavit MP. It operated smooth as butter – gave me the name of his technician of choice (Sherry Krauter).
On his table there was a copy of the new Santana CD set. I had a copy too – I asked him about the photo in the back of Carlos taken with a 21mm S/A, the one where the sun was glaring off the headstock of his guitar. I wanted to know if he realized (when he shot the photo) that he had such a fantastic image. He said “F$%^&*k no man! I didn’t know anything about it till I got the contacts back. I never do. I hate working in the darkroom, always have.” He yelled to Kimberly to go get him a copy of that print and the one of Jimi at the sound check. A moment later he was signing both prints in front of me. He told me the Jimi photo was taken with his first Leica M2 and a chrome 35mm 8-element Summicron. The Santana image with a 21mm f/3.4 Super Angulon, on Mission Street during a free concert during Cinco de Mayo.
The evening was a constant flow of talking, cussing, drinking and phone calls. Jim spent probably 2 hours on the phone in total, yelling and cussing at his lawyer. I bided my time talking photos of him - still not believing that I was sitting in his kitchen, drinking, and talking to his assistant.
As the evening began to wind down, Jim started packing his cameras for a trip the next day. He brewed a pot of very stout coffee and left me with some sage advice; “Photography is either art, or it’s crap, plain and simple.” He told me that I got “IT”, that I had a good eye, and to keep shooting.
Before I knew it, I was back in my hotel room, mentally exhausted and emotionally drained. I had just been in close proximity with greatness and I had not been consumed by fire; I had just spent the better part of a day with a genius – maniac named Jim Marshall. To this day, every time I pick up me camera to shoot, I think about him and the things I’ve learned from studying his images.
This mounted set of 9 images were shot that evening, in Jim’s kitchen, by me. I wish I’d taken more.
I discovered his work when, in the fall of 1985, a friend gave me a stack of Guitar Player Magazines, I was 15. The October 1985 issue had a feature on Jim – showed a bunch of his prints, an interview, and a photo of him wearing his signature Corduroy jacket and a Leica M4 on his left shoulder. His images and story shook me. At the time, I only cared about photography. I never gave a hoot for sports, or any of their stars. My heroes were all photographers.
Now I had one more, and he was solidly placed at the top of my very long list.
In the summer of 1986 an old family friend needed someone to fly with their elderly father to San Jose, CA so he could move in with his Son. I was picked to go. After settling in for a week-long stay, my host asked if I’d like to go with him to the office for a morning. I was bored and said sure. Turned out he was a staffer at Guitar Player Magazine. The first words out of my mouth were – “Do you know John Sievert”? John was the chief photographer – I knew his work. This question surprised him, usually a teen aged boy, upon finding out where he worked, asks if he’s met Eddie Van Halen or Stevie Ray Vaughan.
We walked to John’s office – he was delighted to have a fan. We spoke about photography, I showed him some photos, we looked at some of his work. On his wall was a Jim Marshall image (Jimi Hendrix, sound check, Monterrey, CA June 1967) – I asked if he knew Jim – he said yet, but warned me that he was crazy and that he carried a gun in his brief case. Now I was REALLY intrigued.
I left home in 1989 and joined the ARMY. I worked photography into my life as much as I could, but it wasn’t how I made my living. I searched and searched for more of Jim’s images. One day in 1995 I found an article in American Photographer about Jim titled “Still Crazy, after All These Years”. It detailed the rise and fall of Jim’s life; the success, money, drugs, guns, his arrest and the lean years. After reading it I felt like I needed to write him a letter, to tell him how much his work meant to me.
After several drafts, I finally had it done. A fan letter to a photographer who may or may not receive it well – after all I’d read and heard, anything could happen. I didn’t have his address, but I did know someone who could help – Richard Leeds – the photo editor of Guitar Player Magazine. I packaged the letter and a half-dozen prints and sent it all to Rich with a cover letter asking if he could get them to Jim.
3 weeks later I got a voice mail that really shook me – it was the gruff voice of Jim – sounding very sincere and appreciative. He thanked me for caring about his work – and asked me to call him back. We talked for about 15 minutes, he told me he liked my work but said that it all looked soft. Asked me what kind of camera I used, I told him about my Nikon F4. He told me to get rid of it and buy a Leica and a 35mm lens. By the end of our conversation I had an open invitation to visit if I ever ended up in San Francisco.
2 months later I was sent to the Bay area on an 8 day TDY for the ARMY. God is good.
I called ahead, reintroduced myself to Jim and asked if he was free, he said “yeah – come on over”. I arrived with a bottle of John Powers whiskey, a box of prints and my newly purchased Leica M4. He greeted me warmly, accepted the bottle and patted me on the head – told me I was a good boy and that I must have read the article (the American Photo story mentioned that John Power was his favorite whiskey). He introduced me to his assistant at the time (I think her name was Kimberly). We spent the evening going thru his prints, piles and piles of prints. He showed me his vault full of handguns, all customized and finely tuned, showed me his Leica’s and his scrap book of camera ad’s he cut out as a kid. He looked at my prints and told me the things I was going right (very little) and the things I was doing wrong (a lot). Scolded me for not having a copyright stamp with my address and phone number on the back of every print. He also warned me about scumbag (editors and publishers) stealing images. We talked and drank and drank and talked.
Late into the evening we went out for dinner – walked up his street a few blocks to an Italian restaurant. Along the way he pointed to a place where a lady crashed her Volvo sedan. The car rode up on top of the steel pedestrian guard rail and balanced perfectly on top. He shot some photos and sent them to Volvo – thought they’d be interested – but they weren’t. He rattled off the exact body and lens that he used (M6 and 28mm Elmarit).
We ended up back at his apartment – where we finished off the whiskey – and looked at more photos. In his kitchen he picked up my M4 and gave it a good going over. He took off my 35 Summicron and mounted his 90 Summicron and began taking photos of me, sitting at his kitchen table. Then he handed me his very well worn and brassy M4 which had been fitted with an original Leicavit MP. It operated smooth as butter – gave me the name of his technician of choice (Sherry Krauter).
On his table there was a copy of the new Santana CD set. I had a copy too – I asked him about the photo in the back of Carlos taken with a 21mm S/A, the one where the sun was glaring off the headstock of his guitar. I wanted to know if he realized (when he shot the photo) that he had such a fantastic image. He said “F$%^&*k no man! I didn’t know anything about it till I got the contacts back. I never do. I hate working in the darkroom, always have.” He yelled to Kimberly to go get him a copy of that print and the one of Jimi at the sound check. A moment later he was signing both prints in front of me. He told me the Jimi photo was taken with his first Leica M2 and a chrome 35mm 8-element Summicron. The Santana image with a 21mm f/3.4 Super Angulon, on Mission Street during a free concert during Cinco de Mayo.
The evening was a constant flow of talking, cussing, drinking and phone calls. Jim spent probably 2 hours on the phone in total, yelling and cussing at his lawyer. I bided my time talking photos of him - still not believing that I was sitting in his kitchen, drinking, and talking to his assistant.
As the evening began to wind down, Jim started packing his cameras for a trip the next day. He brewed a pot of very stout coffee and left me with some sage advice; “Photography is either art, or it’s crap, plain and simple.” He told me that I got “IT”, that I had a good eye, and to keep shooting.
Before I knew it, I was back in my hotel room, mentally exhausted and emotionally drained. I had just been in close proximity with greatness and I had not been consumed by fire; I had just spent the better part of a day with a genius – maniac named Jim Marshall. To this day, every time I pick up me camera to shoot, I think about him and the things I’ve learned from studying his images.
This mounted set of 9 images were shot that evening, in Jim’s kitchen, by me. I wish I’d taken more.
CMur12
Veteran
Wow! Great account of a great experience. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us and for the enthusiasm it imparted to me.
- Murray
- Murray
burancap
Veteran
Excellent! Thanks for sharing something very special.
Great read.
One of my favorite possessions: a signed copy of "Not Fade Away."
Thank you for this post.
One of my favorite possessions: a signed copy of "Not Fade Away."
Thank you for this post.
rodinal
film user
Great story, thank you for sharing it.
jbrianfoto
Established
The day I learned Jim had died I felt fortunate to have met him and been able to tell him in person that his work mattered a great deal to me. I also learned a lesson that day; Don't put off trying to contact someone whose inspired you.
__jc
Well-known
Thank you for such a touching and inspiring personal story.
jbrianfoto -
don't forget to post those prints you got from Jim!
Stephen
don't forget to post those prints you got from Jim!
Stephen
ironhorse
Joe DuPont
Great read. Thanks for sharing.
maddoc
... likes film again.
"Not Fade Away" ... thanks for sharing your story!
tuanvinh2000
Well-known
must be a special moment for you! i got my luck to meet one great working documentary photographer in vancouver and it changes my ways of seeing things listening to his honest words after seeing everything in war zones. these people are true living legends.
Michael Markey
Veteran
Now that did hold my attention ...big fan of Jim`s work ...thanks for posting.
As you probably know his work is still going strong with updates on his FB page.
As you probably know his work is still going strong with updates on his FB page.
Peter David Grant
Well-known
Wow.
Thank you so very much for sharing such a touching story here, so great to read. Lots of wisdom there for the rest of us.
Peter
Thank you so very much for sharing such a touching story here, so great to read. Lots of wisdom there for the rest of us.
Peter
LesTele
Member
The OP may be interested to know that the latest edition of Amateur Photographer (20-27 December) has a 5 page article on Jim. I don't think it's available on the Internet yet.
doolittle
Well-known
Ever so often I read a post on RFF that just blows me away, this is one of them.
jbrianfoto
Established
I'll go look for it....
I'll go look for it....
Very cool - I'll start looking for it - thanks for the heads-up !
I'll go look for it....
Very cool - I'll start looking for it - thanks for the heads-up !
jbrianfoto
Established
Thank you -
Thank you -
Wow doolittle - that was a kind thing to say. Thank you.
I sent a mounted copy of this print (and the story) to Jim's estate (addressed to Amelia Davis) - she wrote back a very kind note - said sh'e going to hang it on the wall next to another print someone else took of Jim.
Jeromie
Thank you -
Wow doolittle - that was a kind thing to say. Thank you.
I sent a mounted copy of this print (and the story) to Jim's estate (addressed to Amelia Davis) - she wrote back a very kind note - said sh'e going to hang it on the wall next to another print someone else took of Jim.
Jeromie
rlouzan
Well-known
Jeromie,
Jim is my all time favorite photographer. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.
Robert
Jim is my all time favorite photographer
. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.Robert
farlymac
PF McFarland
That's a beautiful tribute, Jeromie. You very succinctly got to the core of his character, and showed his compassion for fellow photographers. It's great you got to meet him, spend some quality time discussing such matters, and sharing that with us.
PF
PF
DougFord
on the good foot
excellent short story, thanks for sharing