Diane, A Shaded View on Fashion

POPARCHIVES BY DUSTIN PITTMAN _ ANDRE LEON TALLEY

FROM THE JOURNALS OF PHOTOGRAPHER  _  DUSTIN PITTMAN

IN FASHION CIRCLES, ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS "ANDRE"                

Back in 1977, before Michelle Obama, Oprah, Venus Williams, Jason Wu and Tracy Reese there was a time when Andre Leon Talley and I worked regularly together for W and WWD every day and into the night for 6 years. And what a time it was. YSL, Valentino, Karl, Halston, Oscar, Diana, Paloma, Calvin, Ralph, Nan, Diane, Steven, Georgio, Fernando, and on and on. 

I loved working with Andre. He is the Master of Flash. The Wizard of Style.

The Dictator of fashion In and Out.  

                                       Andre Leon Talley - 1978             

 

Photographed by Dustin Pittman

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DUSTIN PITTMAN ON THE GHOST OF ANDY WARHOL _ 1969 _ NYC 

 

ANDY WARHOL AND JACKIE CURTIS _ FACTORY 1970

Photographed by Dustin Pittman

ANDY_JACKIE CURTIS_ PAUL MORRISSEY_ FACTORY_1970

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DUSTIN PITTMAN

Andy Warhol and his art will always personally be with me. I met and photographed Andy Warhol during the Summer of 1969 at the Factory. I used to hang out with him and the Warhol Stars while making my own "underground films" directing and working with Taylor Mead, Jackie Curtis, Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Eric Emerson and countless others. During those days, the factory was very guarded and only a few select friends were allowed to visit on a regular bases. Andy and I used to have weekly elaborate dinners along with friends Jerome Hill, Charles Rydell, Larry Rivers, Terry Southern, Donald Lyons, Charles Henri Ford, Sylvia Miles, Bob Colacello and a cast of others in the legendary Algonquin Hotel dinning room. What a thrill it was being with the greatest artists of all time and also being in the same room that Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Round Table 40 years ago. Andy always carried his little tape recorder with him recording the entire conversations at the table. He recorded everything, everywhere. People were always stunned at how much Andy could remember. Go figure.  I miss Andy Warhol.  He was always very generous to me.  I can't count how many times Andy used to say to me; "Dustin, why don't you go in the back and take yourself a painting". In those days Andy's painting were worth about $300.00. Andy used to offer his SuperStars the choice between the money, which was usually $100.00 or an original Warhol silkscreen. Most took the money.

ANDY ALWAYS GOT IT RIGHT....

 

ANDY AND JACKIE _ FACTORY _1970 PHOTOGRAPHED BY DUSTIN PITTMAN

                            

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FROM THE JOURNALS OF PHOTOGRAPHER - DUSTIN PITTMAN

LOU REED  _ 1970 _ NYC _ PHOTOGRAPHY BY DUSTIN PITTMAN

                            

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DUSTIN PITTMAN

The summer of 1970 was a great time to be in New York City if for nothing other than the nine week residency by The Velvet Underground upstairs at Max's Kansas City. Max's has always been a very special place for me because I cut my photographic style, upstairs and downstairs "Walking On The Wild Side" while photographing at Max's. Max's upstairs was always a great place for me to capture memorable images of artists, actors and music icons of the world. Iggy And The Stooges, The New York Dolls, Patti Smith, Bob Marley, Blondie, Jayne County and The Electric Chairs and of course, The Velvet Underground. One night I was sitting at the round table in the back room at Max's Kansas City with Lou Reed and friends when he mentioned to me to get my camera and dance shoes ready because The Velvet Underground were going to play upstairs at Max's every night, all summer long. I was shocked. After all, we all knew what ups and downs Lou Reed was going through with the other members of the band. The last few years, The Velvet Underground was iffy as far as the possibility of them staying together. This was going to be legend. I don't know if anyone knew that it would be their last shows as a group. I think that if people has known then there would have been more than the usual 20 or 30 people that turned up each night. Most of those who showed up each night were basically family. People like Candy Darling, Jackie Curtis,  Brigid Berlin, Joe Dallesandro, Wayne County, Andrea Whips, Jane Forth, Geraldine and Maria Smith and Sylvia Miles. The people who should have been there were. It was awazing, they would play two sets a night and they would sometimes just go on and on for hours without stopping. Sometimes improvising, sometimes jamming on one song for an hour. I remember having room to dance to "Sweet Jane" in front of the small stage and then Lou putting down his guitar and the two of us having a drink together in the corner. No hysteria, no tongue wagging fans, just the magic and spontaneity of the music and imagine....this was every night all summer long. The playing was tight, and the songs were beautifully from their instruments and mouths onto the crowd. They were the epitome of down and dirty rock and roll who spoke to the streets, and that's what Lou Reed wrote and sang about. Holding up a mirror to society through his lyrics. One memory that really stands out for me was that they seemed to play a different version of "Heroin" every night, and during one set I was photographing and dancing to it for what seemed like hours...catapulted into another dimension and there are so few musical experiences like that. I admire Lou Reed for being so true and authentic, speaking and playing what he believes without relying on the formulaic practices the business was trying to force on him. His attitude: This is mine....I own it. Take it or leave it. "Lou Reed is a man of great integrity".             dustin pittman

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PHOTOGRAPHED BY DUSTIN PITTMAN

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DUSTIN PITTMAN

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FROM THE JOURNALS OF PHOTOGRAPHER  _  DUSTIN PITTMAN

NORMA KAMALI PORTRAITS  - 1982  -  BY DUSTIN PITTMAN

Norma never liked getting her picture taken. She was always more comfortable being behind the scenes. I never understood why because

she has a face that every photographer dreamed of capturing. It was like, once you captured her on film "Sparks Would Fly".

 

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FROM THE JOURNALS OF PHOTOGRAPHER  _   DUSTIN PITTMAN

KARL LAGERFELD  -  "UNMASKED"

I have been photographing Karl Lagerfeld with his Masks, Whips, Fans, Gloves and Riding Crops for over 30 years. Enjoy.

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FROM THE JOURNALS OF PHOTOGRAPHER  _   DUSTIN PITTMAN

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER  -  PARIS  1983

             BEHIND THE GARE SAINT LAZARE TRAIN STATION 

I had the privilege of working with Jean Paul Gaultier, one of the great designers of our times, photographing many of his awe-inspiring collections around the Gare Saint Lazare train station. I absolutely loved this location. It was like I was transported back to the Paris of the 1800's. I was inspired by Eugene Atget, one of my favorite photographers. Atget's photographs have always had that "timeless" feel to them. One never knew whether they were taken in 1852 or hundreds of years later.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DUSTIN PITTMAN

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FROM THE JOURNALS OF PHOTOGRAPHER  -  DUSTIN PITTMAN

EARLY JEAN PAUL GAULTIER  -  BEAUTY   -  PARIS  1983

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DUSTIN PITTMAN

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FROM THE JOURNALS OF PHOTOGRAPHER _  DUSTIN PITTMAN

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FASHION NITE OUT WAS WICKED

Just like New Years Eve in New York City. The streets were filled with love...

More Fashion Nite Out 

 

 

 

 

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FROM THE JOURNALS OF PHOTOGRAPHER  _  DUSTINPITTMAN

DUSTIN PITTMAN ON PHOTOGRAPHING GLORIA SWANSON _ 1978

                          "THE GREATEST STAR OF THEM ALL"

I am standing in front of Gloria Swanson's door waiting for her butler, Max, to guide me to thee Norma Desmond, one of the greatest actresses of all time. I close my eyes and enter the room, and I think I hear her whisper the world's most famous movie lines, "I am big, it's the pictures that got small", or "We didn't need dialogue, we had faces" and "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."  The lines she spoke in one of the greatest films about Hollywood, "Sunset Boulevard". I imagined myself as Joe Gillis, the young screenwriter she fell in love with before he "dived" into the pool.

Yes, it's Gloria Swanson. She is even shorter than I imagine. Less than 5' tall. She is wearing the most beautiful hardware on her wrist. A big silver S&M thing. The round closure clasp matches the beauty mark on her face. I love it. As I was photographing her, she loved talking about her movie career. Her eyes would light up when she mentioned the loves of her life; Joseph Kennedy, Henry de la Falaise, Rudolph Valentino, Cecil B. DeMille. During the silent movie era, people would flock to the movies to see Gloria's on screen jewels and peacock and ostrich feather fashions. She wore what was then the "Haute Couture" of the day. We both felt very comfortable being with each other. Halfway through shooting, she asked me if I wanted to see a balancing trick that she knew.  She said that she could balance a long stem rose on one of her false eyelids, which I found "interesting" and I clicked away while she did her "trick". We had a great fun lunch together. During lunch she drew a picture of me and laughed as to how silly it looked. She seemed like the Gloria Swanson from the 1920's. She was having so much fun, I felt that she didn't want me to leave. She seemed lonely in her silent world apartment. But, sadly, our special movie ended. I kissed her on both cheeks and said goodbye. Outside, I awoke to the busy hustle on 5th Avenue and wondered if it all was a dream.  

   GLORIA SWANSON  _  PHOTOGRAPHED BY DUSTIN PITTMAN

 

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DUSTIN PITTMAN _ PHOTOGRAPHING MELVIN VAN PEEBLES _1976

In the 1970's and 1980's, New York's Times Square was a haven for drugs, hookers, bad movies, and bad food. The streets were always filthy with garbage, needles and human waste. But despite this, Times Square was always my favorite "photographic backdrop" for shooting fashion, people and portraits. I loved the grit, the rawness, the reality of the real world of the "Square". When I got the chance to photograph Melvin Van Peebles, I called him and told him to meet me on 42nd Street and Broadway. He paused, then laughed and immediately understood what I had in mind. I loved photographing Melvin. We "clicked" immediately. We talked about his movies, "Watermelon Man" and "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song", which he wrote, produced, scored, and directed for $500,000. HOW 70'S IN THE 70'S WAS THAT? We kicked around and photographed throughout the afternoon, had lunch and then hugged each other goodbye. 

A hug is what people did before the "Obama Bump". 

MELVIN VAN PEEBLES  _ PHOTOGRAPHED BY DUSTIN PITTMAN _1976

 

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