Guy Gillette (photographer) explained

Guy Gillette
Birth Date:22 October 1922
Birth Place:Minneapolis, US
Death Place:New York City
Field:Photography
Training:autodidact

Guy Gillette (October 22, 1922 – August 19, 2013) was an American 20th century photojournalist.

Early life

Gillette was born in Minneapolis, and his youthful years were peripatetic because of his father's occupation. Initially he studied acting under Michael Chekhov, a Russian-American theatre practitioner and was in several Broadway plays. Drafted in 1942, but not in action in World War 2, he later photographed for the Red Cross for three months at the front during the Korean War, achieving the Missouri School of Journalism award for best picture story for the work. He documented the Civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the 1960s.[1]

While working at a restaurant in New York City, Gillette met Doris Porter, a fashion design student of Lovelady, daughter of V. H. "Hoyt" and Lucy Porter. He took photographs in the 1940s at the Porter Place, the ranch his future in-laws owned near Crockett in East Texas, documenting cattle farming, the family, and small-town life.[2] The pictures provided Gillette with an entree into journalism and he continued to photograph at the ranch throughout his career.[3] [4]

His first work was published in 1947 in trade journals, including Sales Management, before being included in more prestigious publications The New York Times and magazines including Fortune,[5] Life,[6] [7] [8] [9] Look, Theater Arts,[10] Dance Magazine,[11] Harper's Bazaar and Collier's. He was a contestant in LIFE's 1951 photo contest, in which he won an Honorable Mention.

Edward Steichen included his image of a father and two sons sitting at the counter in Arnold's Café, Lovelady, Texas in the Museum of Modern Art's world-touring 1955 exhibition, The Family of Man which was seen by 10 million visitors.[12]

In 1957, Jacob Deschin, camera editor of The New York Times, remarked that Gillette's "pictures were made with conviction. He photographed an important event rich in dramatic sidelights on every hand, including that most important of all elements in the photographer's attitude—personal involvement in the photographic experience itself."[13] From editorial work he moved later in life to commercial photography.[14] [15]

Portraits

In the course of his magazine photography Gillette photographed Elvis Presley, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth II, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Agnes de Mille, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Sarah Vaughan, Johnny Cash,[16] Jacqueline Susann, Marian Anderson, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Death and legacy

Gillette died aged 90 on August 19, 2013, predeceased the year before by his wife of 70 years, Doris (née Porter), and survived by his sons Guy and Pipp. He saw an advance copy of the book, A Family of the Land: The Texas Photography of Guy Gillette,[17] published through the University of Oklahoma Press, but died before its publication. Gillette's photographs continue to be published.[18] [19]

Exhibitions

Collections

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Photographer . The View from Here : The artists of A Realist View and their art 50 years later.
  2. Pasierowska . Rachael L. . November 2014 . A Family of the Land: The Texas Photography of Guy Gillette . Journal of Southern History . 80 . 4 . 1042.
  3. News: Gillette . Guy . March 13, 1955 . Photo story . 124 . The Spokesman-Review.
  4. News: March 30, 1952 . The Day "Old Rough" Got Hurt . 109 . The Salt Lake Tribune.
  5. April 1977 . Pictures by . Fortune . 95 . 150, 274–6.
  6. December 25, 1970 . Encounters with Strangers . LIFE . 69 . 26 . 45 . 0024-3019.
  7. Gillette . Guy . August 8, 1957 . Speaking Of Pictures : Patches As a Plaything . LIFE . 43 . 8 . 8–9.
  8. Gillette . Guy . March 28, 1960 . A Non Belles-Lettres Fad . LIFE . 48 . 12 . 73–4.
  9. August 8, 1955 . Modern Living : Air Conditioning . LIFE . Time Inc. . 39 . 6 . 74 . 0024-3019.
  10. October 1950 . The Enchanted . Theatre Arts . 34 . 10 . 57, 60, 64, 73, 75, 76, 82, 88.
  11. Kane . Robert S . Gillette . Guy (photographer) . October 1953 . Billy the Kid at P.S. 4 . Dance Magazine . United States . Rudor Publishing Company.
  12. Book: Steichen . Edward . The family of man : the photographic exhibition . Sandburg . Carl . Norman . Dorothy . Lionni . Leo . Mason . Jerry . Stoller . Ezra . Museum of Modern Art, Simon and Schuster, with Maco Magazine Corporation . 1955 . New York . en . 1320804044.
  13. Book: Bland . Bartholomew F. . Guy Gillette: Photographs. September 30, 2006– January 7, 2007 . Hudson River Museum . Hudson River Museum . 2006.
  14. January–February 1978 . caption . Communication Arts . Coyne & Blanchard . 19 . 6 . 30.
  15. Book: Barron, Don . Creativity 10 : a photographic review . Art Direction Book Company . 1981 . 0-910158-77-0 . New York . 124.
  16. Book: LIFE : Johnny Cash : An American Legend, 15 Years Later . TI Incorporated Books . 2018 . 9781547844579 . ebook . United Kingdom . unpaginated.
  17. Book: Wilkinson, Andy . A family of the land: the Texas photography of Guy Gillette . 2013 . 978-0-8061-4404-7 . 832706135.
  18. Book: International Handbook of Interpretation in Educational Research . Springer . 2015 . 978-94-017-9282-0 . Smeyers . Paul . Netherlands . 1021 . 1203988157 . Bridges . David . Burbules . Nicholas C. . Griffiths . Morwenna.
  19. Book: Newton, Matthew . shopping mall . 2017 . Bloomsbury Academic . 10.5040/9781501314841 . 978-1-5013-1482-7.
  20. Web site: Guy Gillette MoMA . 2022-10-05 . The Museum of Modern Art . en.
  21. News: September 17, 2006 . Exhibitions . 52 . The Journal News.
  22. Web site: ON THE TOWN EXHIBITION REVIEW – 2010-01-22 – Press – News . 2022-10-05 . www.monroegallery.com.
  23. Web site: EXHIBITION: THE AMERICAN FAMILY ALBUM – 2016-07-01 – Press – News . 2022-10-05 . www.monroegallery.com.
  24. Web site: 2007.08.02 . 2022-10-05 . Hudson River Museum . en.
  25. Web site: Artists – Guy Gillette . 2022-10-05 . www.monroegallery.com.
  26. Web site: Guy Gillette Archives . 2022-10-05 . Holden Luntz Gallery . en-US.

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