Sam Shepard Playwright (2 results)
Published by San Francisco: Magic Theater., 1983
- Manuscript
Seller: Wittenborn Art Books, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.Wittenborn Art Books
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Used - Good
US$ 150.00
US$ 10.00 shippingShips within U.S.A.Quantity: 2 available
Condition: Good. Poster. 24 x 16 inches. Interview with Wertheimer about the photograph on this poster:How did you shoot the "Kiss"?I was in the men's room on the floor above the stage area at the Mosque Theater in Richmond, Virginia, on June 30 of 1956. I got more or less sidetracked and then I turned around and said: "Where's…Elvis?" Elvis had disappeared. I go down the stairs of the theater. I get down to the landing where the stage area is. You've now got 3,000 kids, mostly girls, in there, and the "Elvis Presley Show" is going on; except there's no Elvis Presley around. I look down this long, narrow passageway, the light at the end of the tunnel. There's a silhouette of two people at the far end, and I say, "Oh yes, there's Elvis, with a girl, his date for the day." Do I interrupt them? Do I squeeze off a frame or two from a distance or do I go closer in? Well, you start off becoming a human tripod, because you don't want to start using flash. It's really quite dark. So then you decide, well, if I get closer and Elvis gets annoyed, he might say, "Al, get out of here, you've had it, go back to New York, don't bother." But, if I don't shoot it, I can't really consider myself a journalist. After all, I came here to do the story, and that's part of the story. There's a handrail on the left side. So I move up about five feet, and they're busy, they're intently involved with themselves. So I climb up on the handrail, and I wrap my legs around these metal tubes, and I'm now shooting over her shoulder, into his face. I'm getting close-ups. Nobody's paying any attention to me because when people are doing things that are more important to themselves than having their picture taken, you usually get good pictures. It's a simple formula. So now I'm not satisfied, typically. I'm not satisfied with what? I'm not satisfied with back lighting. I want front lighting. But the only way to get front lighting is to go beyond where they are. So I put on my best maintenance man voice and say, "Excuse me, coming through." I squeeze past the two of them. Again they don't pay attention to me because they're like hypnotizing each other. I'm now set on the landing facing the two of them, and I'm setting myself with the frame. It's a fairly decent composition, and I'm waiting for something to happen within my frame. She says to him: "Elvis, I'll betcha can't kiss me," and she sticks out her tongue just a teeny bit. And he says, "I'll betcha I can," in a very masculine, cool way. And he then approaches the kiss, he's got his tongue stuck out just a wee bit, and he overshoots the mark. I didn't realize that till I developed my film later on. He bent her nose, you see, a very romantic view. So now he backs off coolly, and tries it a second time, comes in for a perfect landing, and that's the end of that. That tenth of a second became history.
More imagesThe Tooth of Crime (Original photograph from a 1973 staging of the 1972 play)
Spalding Gray, Elizabeth LeCompte, Steven Borst, Joan MacIntosh, Timothy Shelton, James Griffiths (starring); Sam Shepard (playwright)
Published by N.p., N.p., 1973
- Photo
Seller: Royal Books, Inc., ABAA, Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.Royal Books, Inc., ABAA
Contact seller5-star sellerVintage photograph from a 1973 filmed staging of Sam Shepard's 1972 stage musical, showing actor Spalding Gray (with a shaved head) at the right. Mimeo snipe affixed to the verso. A science fiction musical about a futuristic world led by "Markers," players of an obscure game involving rock-and-roll music and violence. The produc…tion was first staged at the Open Space in London in July of 1972, moving to the McCarter Theater in New York in November of the same year, and then moving off-Broadway, to the Performing Garage in Soho, where it was filmed by theatre collective The Performance Group. 7 x 5 inches. Fine.
