The Iconic James Dean by Dennis Stock
Description
An image of James Dean, wandering the rainy streets of Time Square in New York in 1955.
Who was the Photographer?
Born in 1928, Dennis Stock was an American photographer who worked between the early 50s to late 90s. Stock worked with Life magazine for a majority of his career, branching out to more passion-based projects in the later years of his life. He was an apprentice to the prolific photographer Gjon Mili, famous for capturing famous artists such as Picasso.
Story of the Photograph
Dennis Stock was introduced to the new kid on the block James Dean at an L.A. party in the 50s, bonding over their mutual friend Gjon Mili. Dean agreed to let Stock photograph him, both while we went around New York, in which the photo above was taken, and around his family home, which was uncommon for the time.
Stock wanted to capture Dean in his natural state, going about his day and not posing for the camera, rather, observe his observations. Stock stated that Dean was more human than most, suffering from extreme insomnia and living quite a mundane life at the time.
When, Where and How was it Published?
A collection of portraits, including this picture, were published by Magnum Photos in 1955, as a collection behind the scenes images of the soon to be famous actor. Originally, these would have been printed into a magazine, and some original prints are in galleries. Currently, they are nicely digitized on their website.
References
Hyams, J. (2015). James Dean: Press photographer Dennis Stock on how he came to know and love the doomed screen idol. [online] Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/james-dean-press-photographer-dennis-stock-on-how-he-came-to-know-and-love-the-doomed-screen-idol-a6669611.html
https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/dennis-stock/