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stevetuba.co.uk
Stories IX The photography Years I A work in progress.
This is a semi-chronological, selected record of events covering my years as a photographer. My personal relationships with some of my models is, at the least, historically integral to my life, hence my story...which started in the late 60's. I plan to illustrate this history with photographs of all those mentioned if at all possible, though it will take time to dig out the negs and slides.
I was 21 years old when I was first published. This was while I was in the US Air Force stationed on the island of Okinawa, Japan. After my tour, I remember going through customs at San Francisco International with all this photographic equipment and being asked if it was for my personal use. Well...yes it was...all of it. I had the two Nikon F bodies that I'd mentioned before, the first of which I'd bought within 24 hours of arriving on the Rock. I went to the main BX (Base Exchange) where, as luck would have it, they were out. Damn! This was not a good omen. They did volunteer that the smaller exchange at Base Ops may have one in stock. Grabbed a cab and off I went, sure enough they did. This was really a great day for me. I remember looking at the Nikon ads in photography magazines while I was still in high school. Jeez...How badly I wanted one. A 35mm...Single Lens Reflex! 100% viewing accuracy (in the case of the Nikon anyway.) What you saw was what you got! Lenses...lots of lenses and attachments, the list went on and on. And I'd be able, at last, to take a photograph through my telescopes. (I'd built a 6 inch Newtonian while still in high school. I'll tell the story later.) By the end, I'd bought a 21mm, 28mm, 50mm, 55mm Macro, 105mm, 135mm lenses, all Nikon. I bought two long telephotos, a 300mm and a 400mm, both non Nikon. These were ok...but nothing to write home about. It was these two lenses that I used to shoot the Gemini 8 astronauts. I sold both to friends and bought a Nikon 300mm F/4 before leaving Okinawa...great lens! To this day I regret not being able to afford the Nikon 500mm F/5 catadioptric. I did test one and still have the 6 frames. A Nikon gadget bag, filters, close-up bellows, slide copy attachment, right angle viewer, pan head, cable release, all the various focusing screens, Photomic light meter prisms and a motorized drive closed out most of the 35mm Nikon list. Mamiya had just come out with a real nice 120 format TLR, the Mamiyaflex C22, with interchangable lenses! So I bought one, along with the wide angle and telephoto lenses, three in all. I also bought a 4x5 view camera, the Super Cambo. The best reviewed slide projector, at the time, was the Sawyer...so I bought two. A "Slick" tripod. I still use that tripod...now, nearly 40 years old. Oh! While still in the states...(prior to moving to the UK) at a flea market...I came across another Slik tripod selling for fourty dollars. This one was a model number or two higher than the one I had...so I bought it. Back home I took a closer look. Horror of horror...one of the legs bent all the way out...as in the leg didn't stop...to form a tripod...but just kept right on going. Damn! A close inspection reveled the problem...and I was one happy camper. [Slick was changed to Slik somewhere along the line.] For the darkroom I bought a Nikkor 50mm F2.8 enlarging lens. Nikkor stainless steel developing tanks, 120 and 35mm. There was more, but I can't remember it all. I did buy lots of negative sleeves, both sizes. A lot of this equipment was purchased off-base. The Base Exchange just didn't have the product range. I was in photographers heaven, I must admit. The prices on-base were one third that of stateside. Off-base it ran about 40% to 50%. I could never have bought this much equipment had it not been for the prices being so low. So there I was getting "short" (my tour ending). I was able to get a real big box, with extra thick construction, to pack all my stuff in. I was not a very good "packer" in those days, but in defense, there just weren't the usual packing materials available, so when it came time to move the box from the barracks to the post office, my deficiencies became immediately apparent. As I indicated before, I was on the second floor, so I just tumbled it down the stairs, end over end. Well...things did fly around in the box. I'd bought gifts for the "home front". For my sister I picked out some Thai silk, light blue. She'd use it for her prom dress two years later. Two smoking jackets, one for my brother, one for the OM. Stuff for Mom. I didn't buy any of that nonsense brass tableware, or any of the carved wooden fornicating elephants. I mean, can you imagine the one foot tall version just popping out of the box. "Oh gee...where did THAT come from?"...and "I really don't know what the hell they're doing." No star sapphires either. I did have a suit made though, because they were so inexpensive. Well...the "suit" if you want to call it that was not all that great. I don't think it matched the one in the window for appearence or quality of workmanship. So ok...I fell for one. Anyway, the funny part came years later. All the odds-and-ends that I'd brought home ended up in the attic. My uniforms and the "suit" being just two. It was a black suit, nice material. Thinking back on it...one could be buried in it...GADS...maybe that's what I'd ordered...a burial suit. The "suit' just hung up there year after year. I never wore it once. Years later... One day the OM asks if he can ask me a question. Gads! Adding that I don't have to answer if I didn't want to. GADS! This was serious! What the hell was this all about? It seems that when the folks saw the suit they speculated as to its purpose. I guess it couldn't be "just" a plain suit...it had to be something more...more special. They said nothing to me about it at the time. I said "ok sure...ask away". The question...based on the "suit"...was..."was I married"...like did I get married on Okinawa or in Thailand?" (And what...left a wife back there?) My response was..."What?" It was funny as I dug out the chain of reasoning they'd taken to arrive at the "only" possible conclusion. Why not my burial suit? Oh! I wasn't married on Okinawa or any other place...it was just a suit. My flight went to Tokyo, then straight to San Francisco. Inbound had been to Hawaii, then to Okinawa. Landing at SF, there were no marching bands, no parades...nothing to welcome us "heroes" home from the war...as it were. This fact had effected a great many vets returning state side. It was as though you were just going to another assingment...which just happened to be your last and...home. I spent a day and a night at Travis AFB, cleared, and then cought a flight to Seattle. Traveling for the last time in Class A's felt strange. I always felt strange in uniform outside a military environment...unlike scenes from "The Dear Hunter". It's interesting how you can MAKE things "work" viv-a-vis a screenplay and a most likely reality. DeNero's character struts around town in his Class A's. The reality was that for most of us from "big" cities, things were a bit different to say the least. First, you got out of your uniform as soon as possible, with no intention of ever wearing it again from a strictly utilitarian perspective. Don't get me wrong, but to be "out" and then to continue to maintain said uniform is pushing things. More to the point though, is the idea that you actually knew 20, 30, 40 people period, to strut in front of, (I sure as hell never knew that many) AND that they'd be just where you'd left them 3, 6, 8 years earlier is unreal! 99.9% of the people in my neighborhood didn't even know that I was IN the military. And I'm willing to bet that at least half of them were against the "war". And then! Can you imagine going to your local hangout, (another nonrealty for most of us) in uniform, and actually find your friends there, just sitting around shooting the bull? Most likely there would be the 4Fs, a draft doger or two, peacnicks, and wouldbe hippies with money. It stuck me as interesting that in reallity it was the civilians that controlled the military, they were the boss, out ranking my superiors. So here I was about to be a "boss" civilian but my previous superiors were no where around to be bossed. They were hiding on the bases where I now couldn't go without their permission. How did this all work...? A short story to illustrate a point. It was on Okinawa when one day I was with the Colonel at a telehpone exhange. I hadn't realised that the Comm Group was responsible for the telephone service. Anyway I got some shots of the Colonel and were out in the lobby when we witness an altercation between this civilan...American...and an Okinawian behind the counter. This guy was making big waves about his phone service or the lack thereof. He was just tearing into any and all that were listening...up one side and down the other. I'm starring...the Colonel is starring. The tyraid was escalating and that was when the Colonel, having heard enough, stepped in. This should be interesting, I thought. The Colonel is trying to calm this guy down, BUT it's not working. Gads! (You'll understand in a minute.) This went on for some time. They would talk, but the guy would get pissed off some more. At one point the Colonel asks this guy who (and what) he was! This guy knew who he was relative the Colonel since he could see the rank. My Colonel was at a disadvantage not knowing who he was dealing with. You should have seen the change! GADS! The Colonel was beaten! This guy, though a civilian, outranked the Colonel. GS ratings and all that...don't you know? I was a civilian again after four years. I slept for two days. Jet lag...I guess. Time passed and.... I realised that I wanted/needed a real darkroom. I had brought back thousands of frames of film, which I now wanted to print properly. To this end, I set in motion events that would take over one of the basement bedrooms as my lab. The only problem was that the room was occupied by the OM's shop. It would mean doing half the basement over in a big way. (That was a story unto itself.) It took a few months to accomplish but at last it was a done deal. Everybody gained. I painted the interior white. Yes..white. Think about it, when you close the door and turn out the lights, what have you got? Dare I say it? A DARK room. On the other hand, with the lights on...you have a nice bright work space. Right? I built a long bench for the developing trays. Enough room for 7, 11x14 trays. It was planned for a developer, stop bath, fixer 1, fixer 2, Hypo killer, water and water trays. Painted it all white also, everything would be white. In anticipation, I bought an Omega B-22 enlarger. This would take care of the 120 and 35mm negs. I did need to buy a 75mm enlagring lens...should have bought it while on Okinawa, for the 120 size film. A print dryer and paper cutter pretty much finnished the darkroom for now. Print washing would be done outside at the sink. Later I bought a dry-mount press and an Omega D2V 4x5 enlarger. Needness to say, I had been taking photographs during this time. Black and white was now under control, but I liked to shoot color slides also, so I was soon setting up for developing and mounting my own slides. I was set!
What will it be...? I had shot a few models on Okinawa. (Miss Okinawa for one.) But it was now time for some "round eyes". I was taken by the works of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon among others. When Avedon was in his twenties he was making big bucks! Why not me...huh? I had studied their styles and used to play games guessing the photographer just by looking at their shots in magazines. You really could tell. I knew, or at least felt, that given the same tools and conditions etc., I could get equally good photos as they did. So...I was going to do fashion/advertising photography, though not strictly limited to it. My theory was that I would be dealing with people (models) that were at their best. Unlike many other services, which, though paying well, delt with people that had problems, like being sick of body, mind or circumstance...fill in the blank for the rest of the list! The people I would be dealing with would look and feel their best and it would be a fun, creative and a challenging process. I didn't realize it at the time. but there was more to "doing fashion photography", or any other photography, than just being able to create a good photo...even a great one! But I was young, full of energy and had some talent, I thought. Anyway, I would first need a very good portfolio, and hence I'd need to find models willing to work with me...for free. This would turn out to be easier than one might at first imagine. I realised that it would be important to have an aspect of legitamacy...so to that end I had business cards printed. I spent some time thinking about a "proper" name for my wouldbe studio. Karsh of Ottawa was taken...so I came up with...wait for it...PYGMALION! This was from Greek mythology, later, Shaw. Galatea and all that stuff. It fit my self image to a tee...thank you very much. So...I had a name to make!
Armed with my beloved Nikons and a few business cards...I set out to turn Seattle on its collective head...and start the legend...
The scene... It must be taken into account that this was the late 60's...the sexual revolution had already started and Seattle was catching up rapidly. Bras were burnings. The hippie "movement" had started, flower power...peace...pot...love, not war...etc. Rock music...was a big part of the scene. "Happenings" were happening. It was effecting everything. Woodstock was two years into the future (August 19th, 1969). The only thing that would have a greater infuence on me was the fact that I was not yet 23 years old, and had spent the last four in the military. Psychologically, I was not a part of the "scene". Not really. AND a war was still being held. As I think back, I can only remember meeting one other vet, (and he was totally screwed up) and here I was dealing with the "establishment" and "peacenicks." Or worse, people that knew nothing about the realities. I kept a low profile...I was hip...yeah sure! On the plus side, there were the obviously potent effects of the hippie movement. It would change the way we dressed, talked, behaved and the music we listened to. You either went with the flow or not. It changed both the sexes, but I think it changed the girls the most. Overnight they were running around braless, "natural" was in. They were the ones that were the most liberated and took every advantage of the situation and hence they changed the guys! Jealousy was not hip. Sharing was in. Anyway...this was all great in theory, but there was reality. I think that there were a hellava lot of confused people walking around pretending, or at least trying to be "cool." I was one of them. I guess what I'm saying is that I benefited from some of the fallout aspects of the scene. It was a fun time and I used "it" as much as "it" used me. One ad agency head called me his "hippie photographer"...GADS! I had told very few people that I was ex-Air Force...so I guess my disguise was working.
I believe that there is a totally natural relationship between a model and her photographer...just like doctors and nurses...pimps and prostitutes...sailors and their homebound wives...Fighter pilots and the women that wouldn't consider anything less than a fighter jock...etc. It's the "groupie" syndrome! You can't help it...not really. You are attracted to the vision...a dream. Yes, I am sure that it's mostly sexual. The attraction! The ability to attract...to play a role...as it were. This brings up an interesting observation relative the concept of role playing. Some people play at playing the (a) role...though not really sure that it's them...in effect testing the "fit." These are the "wild cards" in the game. Just because you look "good" doesn't mean that you are suited to being a model or anything else...even though your friends keep encouraging you. So it was that I would try to see past the exterior as soon as possible. Creativity is more important...so is attitude. Strangely, too high a creativity can cancel out attitude resulting in great frustration for the photographer. The model thinks that SHE can do both...model and take the photo! Naturally, there is a power game playing out also. The photographer is in control during the shoot while the model is subservient. This is logically...natural! One has the vision of the final shot, hence the model is in a sense, an animated prop participating as the center of attention in a creative process. Both find satisfaction. But...
I've been stalling. I'm having difficulty coming up with a clear vision for these pages. Ok...more like a problem of how to present it...what to say about them...the models? At first, my thought was to just show some of my best work, along the lines of a exibition that I once had. One hundred b/w prints of mostly (ok...all) women...girls. That show was not dedicated to any one individual, just the group...women. (It was the gallery owner that came up with the name for the show, "S. Tuba: Women". It was a collection of the most interesting photographs I'd taken to date. Naturally, in a gallery setting, they'd be static...no stories...no names. Ok...a mystery perhaps. Part of me wants to tell the stories that went along with the faces. These events took place over thirty years ago...in some cases closer to forty. In some ways it would illustrate just how little things really change. If you're reading this, I assume that you may have read some of my other "Stories" pages. On one, I tell the story about the French post cards. I go on to speculate as to the models identity and basically how it came about that she posed. Who was the photographer? What was their relationship? Were they lovers? How long did their relationship last? What happened to her?
Stop press: 28 July 2003. I've been doing some more reaserch on the suject of the postcards. I came across one source that connected two bits of information. I had mentioned that on the postcard above, there is, in the lower left hand corner a circle whithin which there are the letters "PC" at the top and below that the word "Paris." I now know that there are to be read together as in "PC Paris" which in turn was the name of a,"very large" publisher of cards. This company was in business at the turn of the century, in France. They published cards on many themes, nudes being just one. Now the really intersting part. There seems to be a market for these cards today, hence auction sites. I went to such a site because the search indicated a "PC Paris" card with the number...wait for it...1701! My heart skipped a beat! Could it be as I had proposed in the story of the cards regarding the system used to number them? I had read on another site that the numbers had to do with dates...! Well...that struck me as...not likely. So...anyway...sticking with my numbering sceme, 1701 should be the second "used" photo of "my" girl. The number on my card is 1755. I have one reference that correlates circa 1910 with a card numbered 1467. So maybe I'm not that far off as to the date for my card. Back at the auction website... WELL NOW...Sure as hell, there she was siting on a pillow in a pose that, in my opinion, was not as flatering, or "romantic" as mine (1755)...but her nonetheless. I still don't know about the dates...etc. I shall continue... There is another factor. As with most living things, there is that prime moment of perfection. Images taken at this time are a formal acknowledgement of this perfection we call...beauty. It is how I'd like to remember the past, as that time of perfection. I guess what I've been trying to say is that my photographs are now reaching that age where they may well be (most likely!) the only ones in existence, much like the old photographs found at rummage sales (car boot)(swap meets). It is also a fact the there are negatives in my collection that have never seen the light of day. No one has ever seen them (as a print)...a veritable time capsule as it were. The girl in the postcard looks about 18-19 to me but she could just as easily have been 14 or 15. Born 1892-1897. Anyway, if the shot was taken...when? Rewind. The Dose House was built in 1911...fact. Well...if the photo was taken that year, just suppose, today she'd be...106-111! Three generation...plus! A great grandmother! So...who is there to tell the story of the girl in the photograph and her relationship with the photographer? Is it important? Well...the short answer...is...I don't know! It's another dab of color on the fabric of life...another tiny facet on the crystal. The camera captured an instant of time, forever frozen. An event that will never be repeated! A one of a kind...unique in all of history. Hell yes it's important...to remember. So...in some ways it's not just the story and not just the photograph...but the fact that it took two people's lives crossing and then the instant of capturing that special moment of perfection as seen in the minds eye of the photographer. How that event came to be and the relationship between them...is the story. The photograph is just the proof that they were together in one place at the same time. 11 August 2003: More news about the mystery girl! Gads...the plot thickens...as it were. According to www.tallulah.com this girl was very popular in her day. (Oh...and I am totally wrong about the numbering of the photographes.) She modeled frequently, spanning from 1924 to possibly into 1929, with numbers in the 1500's to well into the 1700's. I had based my assumption, nievly I might add, on the three cards I had of her out of five, all three numbering in the 1700's. I should have known better. Well...it turns out that the number of great looking models willing to pose nude at that time was rather small, relativly speaking. The result being that she was quite popular, given her exquisite figure, with the photographer(s?) working in the genre. Further, her name IS, as of now, still unknown. It's amazing that her name was vanished. Having said that, it may well have been that she wished to remain annonomous, considering the times...unlike today with the Playboy centerfolds...etc. So...we may never find out her true indentity. Sigh! Another posibility, just as likely, is that the photorapher(s?) just died, leaving only the negatives behind without a record linking them to names. I base this on my own experience. To this day I have just a first name attached to many negatives. I did keep a journal of sorts that had last names, but if one were to read it now, there would be great difficulty in matching it with a particular negative. To wit...
Kathy S. of Spokane... It was going to be a nice day in Seattle. The sky was that famous blue and I was going to the Seattle Center. This had been the site of the 1962 World's Fair. It was also the setting for the Elvis flick..."It Happened at the World's Fair".
I had handed her my card and added that if she would find it agreeable, I could be reached at the number on the card. I assumed that she was living in Seattle and would call me some time later. Well now! As I recall, they moved off a short distance and after a quick conversation, she...the girl, came back and asked if I would like to shoot right now. HELLLLL... yes...I thought! Her name was Kathy. So it came to pass that we left Mom at a park bench and walked around the center taking photographs. I shot lots of b/w and lots of color...slides. We took about an hour or a bit more, and returned to Mom. I went on to thank her etc...and asked as to where I should send the photos. Mom...popped up...and indicated that I should send them to an address in Spokane. Spokane is in eastern Washington State! Ok fine...and we part company. As I think about it now...she was trapped. She couldn't very well call a day or two later because she'd be in the very position her mother was ultimately trying to protect her from. The ONLY way out WAS to pose right now! I had shot a lot of film! About a week later I put together a collection of B/W prints and sent them off to Spokane. I'd shot color slides also but I didn't include any...they were one of a kind. Time passes. More time passes...then...one day I get a call! Gads...it's Kathy. She tells me that she really liked the photos. I tell her that I had more and that I had color slides also. Well now...wait for it...She asks if I'd like to show them to her! What? Well...It turns out that she lives not in Spokane but right here in Seattle! She explains that her mother was protecting her from the likes of guys like me...Ha ha...hence the Spokane address...Mom's. It also explained the delay...the mail to Spokane, Mom looks at them, and back. She goes on to give me her Seattle address...right on the edge of Capital Hill...my old stomping ground and only 15-20 minutes away from me. We set a time and date. Armed with the Sawyer, a projection screen and more prints, I arrived at her apartment. I did the "show and tell." She liked them and after I explained what I was trying to do...re the portfolio, we arranged for another shoot. It turns out that we were both 23. The shoot had taken place on my birthday...the 3rd of May...1967. Kathy was my first stateside "model" not counting my sister Eva whom I persuaded to pose for me on a makeshift background setting in the attic. We did a number sessions, driving around to various locations. I would process the film and then make arrangements to show her the prints/slides at her apartment. So it was one evening. I showed her the prints and after the excitement had worn off we talked about other things...her. She then disapeared to change into leotards. She had some training in dance...ballet...and at one point she volunteered to show me a few private pirouettes and one half of a pas de duo. I felt that I was about to be seduced. I was! Some time later, I realized that I needed a proper studio, controlled lighting and all that. One could shoot anytime, day or night and in any weather, in a studio. Kathy thought I should get studio space too..."it would be good for you" she'd said. Ok...fine. The OM, my brother and I had been going to "Mike the Barber" for as long as I can remember. Mike was Italian and spoke with an accent. He used to greet me with..."hows-sa-da boy?" I had mentioned to the OM that I was looking for studio space...and he'd mentioned it to Mike. Well now...Mike's brother, Joe, had a hair solon just up the street from the barber shop and he had unused space in the back. Mike closed up and took me right over to meet Joe. It was perfect! A bit narrow, but just enough room for a 10ft wide seemless background paper and long enough to get back for a short telephoto (105mm) shot and get this...a high ceiling...all this for a special price, today only, of $49.99 a month. ($50!) So it came to pass. I would need to build a wall along one side which would create a long narrow hall separating me from the access to the shared bathroom. I would use this bathroom as a changing room for the models. The new wall would also be a perfect place to mount my photographs, a gallery as it were. It took about a week or so to get settled in. It was during these early days that I met Joe's daughter, Roseanne. I would occationally ask her to stand in for lighting tests, but later we did do a few "for real" sessions too. This space had been used as storage and included an old roll top desk which came in handy. Over the next few months I'd add a makeup table and lights, a couple of mirrors, a collection of props and I brought in my tape deck along with tapes...etc. Kathy was the first model to "use" the studio. At first I just had flood lights. Over the following months I built electronic strobe lights. Three, two hundred watt-second units. Not satisfied, I went on to build a 3x400WS power supply and a small portable 400WS unit. These 400WS power supplies worked into strobe lights that were originally designed for airport runways. I was very happy with these lights. I liked to use my motorized Nikon and a fast recycle time was important...hence the 2-3 seconds that I was getting was close enough. I was soon turning out some pretty good shots though I still had a lot to learn. Kathy and I lasted, as an item, for about 6 months. Many months later, maybe a year, I even did a midnight rescue, saving her from her boyfriends clutches! This boyfriend had been her ex-boyfriend when I was her new boyfriend and to whom she had gone back to after I was the old new boyfriend. I think that this old boyfriend was at her apartment on a night when I arrived unannounced...resulting in her becoming my old new girlfriend. We kept in touch over the years. So it was that one day there was an attempt to create a "Seattle Bandstand" as it were. This was a take-off of American Bandstand with Dick Clark which had become a very popular ABC network program. Kathy knew the "producer" and was to play a roll as a dancer. I was spun into the fray as photographer. It went nowhere. The last time I heard from Kathy, in a letter, she indicated that she was persuing her first love...dance...in Europe! As it was, I credit Kathy with a great many firsts for me. It was interesting.
Kathy S. of Spokane WA. Thanks babe... PS. Further on I relate the story of my joining the Seattle Photographic Society...(SPS)...wherein I explain the monthy competitions. One of the prints I entered was of Kathy. It was a 16x20 inch...toned...softfocus head shot. I had experimented with various methodes of tonning prints and came up with...camillia tea, which produced a rich yellow...close to the color of the sun. The print took a first place! Years later, this same...a one of a kind...print was included in my show. It sold! I never knew the person that had bought it....and thought nothing more about it. Nearly twenty years later I received a phone call out of the blue...from that very person. His last name was Griffin...and we had, what can be best described as a disjoint and somewhat strange conversation. He wanted to make "contact" with me...the photograpgher...of the image...the image of Kathy. Sadly...memory fails me as to the details...but my notes indicate that I thought that he was depressed...over what aspect, I don't know! Unanswered was the question of whether he knew Kathy...or was it just the "image". Perhaps he was asking...who was that girl...in the photograph?
Shirley McC., Sandy B., Priscilla H., Katy P., Bonnie E., Shelly B. and Delores S. Rock concerts were the latest summertime activity in Seattle. They'd be held at various parks around the city. So it was, that one day there was to be a concert at Seward Park and I planned to go. Seward Park was a great location.
It was relatively close to me and I had been there many times, so I knew my way around. Cameras, lenses, film, tripod...etc. It was a great day as for the weather...sunny and warm. As soon as you get out of your car, you are on the edge of an amphitheater. Right off I noticed a girl in a seethrough blouse (I guess I should indicate that she was braless) sitting with a group of guys! This was my first "seethrough", in the flesh as it were! GADS! The place was seething with activity. Music blared from the stage at the center of the sculpted grass amphitheater. As I scanned the mutitude, I spotted a very interesting looking girl across the width of the park. She was dressed...hippie...in a long flowing wispy dress...with two dogs on a leash, her long blonde hair flowing in the breeze. She really stood out. As I made my way toward her I spot a few other stunning girls. It was the case of a bird in the hand...etc. I approached the closer one and asked if she'd pose for me. I had handed her my card. She took the card and immediately went over to another girl sitting a short distance away in the shade of a magnolia tree and handed it to her. She returned and indicated that...yes...she'd pose. GADS! Or should I say "far out...groovy boss." Her name was Sandy and she went into poses that I'd sure as hell had never seen before. It was a miracle...she was amazing. How could this be happening? She knew what she was doing. The other girl watched, and as I'd later find out, facinated, or should I say, found it odd, that I'd lay down on the ground to get a shot.
Anyway...I finish with her...and start to explain things but she led me into the presence of the "other" girl. So I tell her to call me in a few days and we'd arrange for her to see the results. Days pass and no call. I'd gotten some really great shots...even if I do say so myself. I printed up a set and put them in a box along with the contact sheets which then ended up in my car. It was about two weeks or maybe a month later that there was to be another concert, but at Volunteer Park this time. We had lived on Capital Hill at one time, so I knew this park quite well also. Of course I again planned to go and perhaps I'd run into the girl with the dogs. With the box of photos still in the car, I arrived at the park. As I walked into the area, I nearly trip over a group of girls. I did a double take. To my surprise I recognize one as Sandy the girl I'd shot weeks before. She was there with other girls that looked real "cool" too, for lack of a better term. Anyway, I re-introduce myself to the girl that was supposed to have called me. I tell her that I have the photographs of Sandy back at my car. Well now...Instead of getting the least bit excited, she indicates that Katy would go back with me to take a look...like she couldn't be bothered. Katy was new to me. Katy and I "truck" on back to my car. I opened the box and hand it to her. I don't want to be accused of exaggeration...but she flipped out. She'd never seen anything like them before. Very soon we were hurrying back to the "boss" girl. Katy excitedly showed my photos to her. Well...She also flipped out. It would be at this time that I'd hear the name Saulius Pempe for the first time...as in "these (photos) are so much better than those that Saulius took." (Sorry Saulius, but that's the way it happened.) My prints were passed around so all the girls had a look. After the excitement died down, I asked if anyone would like to pose for me, now. Katy indicated...yes! (As time passed and I'd shot Katy a number of times, I was starting to shoot for the Bon Marche also and I sent Katy along for fitting as my model.)
We shot for about 45 minutes and return to the boss. This time I got a name and phone number. Her name was Priscilla. When I had Katy's shots done, I would call her as opposed to waiting for her to call me! As it would turn out, Priscilla (Perk...short for percolator) was the "manager" of a group of girls that were doing "avant garde" modeling for various boutiques and in some cases performing with rock groups. They were called "Trouppe" (later, Troupe). This would later explain the poses that both Sandy and Katy were showing me. It turned out that they were in need of good photos to help in their promotions. This was great news. I'd get them as models and they'd get photographs...by Pygmalion! Sandy and Katy were both six feet tall! There were other girls that I'd get a chance to shoot too. Shelly B. and Delores S. and Bonnie E., each different from the other.
Delores S. of Everett WA. 1969. Left: Kodak 2475. The 400WS flash had failed to fire. Hence lighting was by modeling light only, a 500W flood into an umbrella. This print took a 1st place at SPS.
Bonnie E. Studio shot and on location. She was quite a dancer. Interestingly...many years later she reapeared out of nowhere...wanting a pulicity head shot for the papers...She was doing...wait for it... Channeling! Oh! It would turn out that the stunning girl with the two dogs...well...she was one of them too...Trouppe! Her name was Shirley McC. I never actually met her, hence never shot her, though I did see her in some group photos by Saulius taken under adverse conditions. She had a great "look", I wish I could have shot her. About a year later, maybe less, she appeared nude in a men's magazine, trimming her pubic hair with a pair of scissors. Gads! Such were the times.
A page from the May 1969 issue of Friday magazine. Seattle. Left top and bottom: Shelly B. Right top to botton: Katy P. and Sandy B. It turned out that Priscilla was living with Sandy and her Mom. I drove out to their place and ended up with both Sandy and Priscilla, a pattern that would be repeated for a long time into the future. This may also have been the start of my taking the girls for a bite to eat too...they were always starving. Over time, I'd shoot all the girls. I even talked Priscilla into posing for me, with Sandy at first, but later on, alone. I liked Priscilla. During this time, through her contacts, I began to shoot promo photos for Rock groups. Then as my reputation widened I'd get referrals...directly. PS. There were many undercurrents running regarding the "Troupe girls"...as I called them. There were their personal involments etc. and the usual petty jealousies which were contrary to the "hippie" ethic...of sharing.
Shirley L. One such was from the manager of a female vocalist by the name of Shirley L. Well now. Shirley was from Spokane...yes another one! They were staying at the Edgewater so I met them there one evening. She needed a few good shots for a new promo package. I had brought samples of my work that I thought would apply. Done deal...we'd shoot in a day or two. In the flesh, Shirley exuded sex. She was 19. Gads! She was about 5-8, 36-24-35...bleach blonde. I looked forward to the shoot. More for the experience and the money since Shirely was not a model. She was a stage performer...a singer. She didn't have the clothes sense that my better models had. Most of her clothing was not fashionable...I thought. Some didn't fit all that well either. I was learning a thing or two. I shot more film than I expected to. I was having some problems. I was loosing focus.
GADS! What's it going to be...WHAT? Frankly, it took me a moment or two to understand what..."what" was, to paraphrase a recent president. Not realizing the ultimate consequences, I partook of her charms, right there on the background paper. But hey...she did tell me that I reminded her of...ZORRO! This could not be taken lightly and I took it to mean that she would "respect me in the morning". Afterwards, she invited me to visit her in Spokane...adding that I'd be her "white knight in Seattle!" (See I told you so!) Well! This was just great...I always wanted to be one of those! Yeah sure! I told Priscilla about the shoot...NO...NOT...THAT...part...but I did tell her that Shirely had invited me to visit her in Spokane. Priscilla was, in a loose sense, becoming something of my manager, so I would have to tell her these things. I would later find out (from her) that this business with Shirley had upset her. Gol...ly why? In the end there was a bit of revenge in that it was impossible to collect my fees from Shirely. Surely I jest...not! I guess I had been paid in full...though admittedly I partook of the apple more than once after that first time. The bottom line was that I never did get paid...in cash. I learned a lesson. And of course I never did go to Spokane.
Seattle Photographic Society... By this time, through an acquaintance of the OM's I learned about the Seattle Photographic Society (SPS). I looked into it and after finding a sponsor, joined. They held monthly meetings, wherein there would be competition in both prints and color slides. Your work would be judged and scored. 100 point being the highest. You were allowed to enter two prints/slides. You'd start out as a Pre-Fellow and after gaining enough points be elevated to Fellow. Then again with enough point you'd make Master. I chose my two prints with great care. Without modesty, I did very well, taking firsts and firsts or firsts and seconds. It was possible to get two firsts, or whatever, if your two prints tied in score but it was the points that really mattered. I took first place with the highest total score for the year it took me to make Fellow. I repeated this the next year and made Master. During my second year I was the print director for the International Exhibition sponsored by SPS, a member of the PSA...the Photorgaphic Society of America. During this time I would take some of my models to these monthly competitions. As a Fellow and Master I was asked to be one of the three judges, judging the prints or slides. We had members that were not only in SPS but in other orginization also, like the Boeing Camera Club. So it was that I was asked to present lectures at those venues on any subject I chose, and at other times I was asked to judge for them. I also lectured before the PSA.
Continued: Stories X
Copyright © Steve Tuba 2003-2010. Photography Copyright © Steve Tuba 1999-2010. |
I
have always found it fascinating to note that everyone, has
a story to tell. I have often pondered the question of who
it was in an old photograph (like the model in the postcard.) And,
that it was quit possible that there is now, not a single person
alive that could identify the individual. This strikes me as, in a
poetic sense, tragic. This girl had a life, and I would like to think
that it was long and happy. But the fact that I am in possession of
the print, and not a relative treasuring it, is truly sad.
Anyway...I'm
stumbling around taking shots of the Space Needle and the
International Fountain...when I spot this young girl with an older
woman, sightseeing. The girl was dressed fashionably. I made a note
of this. I think that she had noticed me at one point...gadget
bag...camera's etc. We were going in different directions, but not
much later there they were again and coming my way. Our paths were
about to cross! Well...the old adage about opportunity knocking came
to mind and so I introduced myself to the girl. She was with, as it
would it would later turn out, her mother, watching. I asked her
something original and very clever...like "Have you done any
modeling before?" I would later conclude after many such
encounters...that they all say..."yes". Obviously I meant
recently...not when they were five years old and played
dress-up...which nine times out of ten was exactly what came into
their minds!
Sandy
B. On that first day at Seward Park.
Well...we
shot for most of a morning...this would have been the second
day...when, as things were winding down...wait for it...she says to
me..."Well Tuba...what's it going to be?"