Left: Greg Gorman, Kevin Costner, Los Angeles, 1988 © Greg Gorman. Right: Greg Gorman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Los Angeles, 1994 © Greg Gorman.
Munich-based gallery IMMAGIS has opened the latest solo show by legendary American photographer Greg Gorman. Under the title ‘The Outsiders: Best of and beyond’, this special selection of Gorman’s most famous photographs of prominent musicians, visual artists, and actors, mostly hailing from the United States. Portraits of David Bowie, with whom Gorman worked for more than 15 years, as well as his long-time friend Grace Jones, are displayed alongside his images of Andy Warhol, Jerry Hall, Bryan Ferry, Sharon Stone, David Hockney, Iggy Pop, Michael Jackson, Raquel Welch, and Michael Jordan, to name a few.
Greg Gorman, David Hockney, Malibu, California, 1989 © Greg Gorman
Greg Gorman (*1949, Kansas City, Missouri, USA) initially wanted to become a photojournalist, but found his true calling in 1968 when he took a picture of Jimi Hendrix during his concert in Kansas City. The photograph marked the start of his career as a celebrity photographer, lasting over 50 years.
After receiving a Master of Fine Arts in 1968, Gorman began photographing actors and musicians. Many of his iconic black-and-white images would go on to appear on movie posters and CD covers, or grace the pages of magazines such as Life, Newsweek, Vogue, and Rolling Stone. Gorman’s photographs were featured more than 20 times on the cover of Andy Warhol’s Interview.
Greg Gorman, Iggy Pop, Los Angeles, 1987 © Greg Gorman
Parallel to his portraiture work, Gorman has also created a remarkable body of work in the area of nude photography. With his unique style characterized by sharp contrasts between shadow and light, he concentrates on the lines and contours of the face and body. The result is a classic aesthetic that combines the timeless beauty of human nature with erotic charisma. Gorman’s images of David Bowie’s wife, Iman, Brigitte Nielsen, and male star models Tony Ward and Mickey Hardt are legendary.
Left: Greg Gorman, David Bowie, Blue Jean, London, 1984 © Greg Gorman. Middle: Greg Gorman, Sharon Stone, Malibu, 2005 © Greg Gorman. Right: Greg Gorman, Sophia Loren, Rome, 1994 © Greg Gorman.
For the first time, those powerful nudes will be complemented by a small number of Private Works, taken between 2000 and 2015. While Gorman’s approach to depicting the male body is similar to that in his commissioned works, the more intimate settings and varied approaches to lighting and color reveal further dimensions of Gorman’s skilled portraiture. Many of the photographs were shot during workshops the photographer has conducted around the world since 1988.
Left: Greg Gorman, Brigitte Nielsen, 1988 © Greg Gorman. Right: Greg Gorman, David Michelak, Los Angeles, 1987 © Greg Gorman.
As the photographer has previously said: “my main objective in my portraits is to capture who the people are, to capture a little bit of their soul. Trying to find out who they are behind the façade of the characters they portrait on the big screen. So it’s stripping them a bit bare. Trying to get inside their heads and capture the essence of who they are as individuals.”
Left: Greg Gorman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Los Angeles, 1986 © Greg Gorman. Right: Greg Gorman, Grace Jones, Jamaica, 2015 © Greg Gorman.
Exhibition until 11th of May.
Courtesy of IMMAGIS Fine Art Photography.