Yesterday I was perusing my RSS feeds when i came to long pause on the STUDIO NEMO blog. They had made a post about this Hemingway photo that was taken right after “Old Man and the Sea” was written. Here’s the story they put with it:
Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt was sent to photograph Hemingway for the cover of Life Magazine in the 50s in conjunction with the release of “The Old Man and the Sea.” The photographer later recalled it as one of his most difficult assignments. Hemingway didn’t want to be photographed and felt if he was photographed he should be able to show off his “virile body.” Interestingly, Eisenstaedt insisted he be clothed for the cover and posed him in different portraits with sticks walking up a hill or standing at the top of a ladder. What’s confusing to me is that Eisenstaedt is famous for that candid kissing couple in Times Square and yet his approach to Hemingway was so staged. I wish he would have taken the photos of Hemingway in his ubermasculine virile old self.
So this is where it gets weird.
Back in 2006, I traveled to Australia with Oakley to shoot the Spring Square O campaign. I was lucky enough to spend the entire time with beloved friend and road companion, Danny Hampson. The first day we arrived in AUS was a blustery, late spring evening. Danny and I grabbed our cameras and ran down to the waterfront where we were staying. There was something magical and strange about that afternoon. We were delirious from traveling and there wasn’t much conversation. We just got lost in the loud wind and lapping waves in the harbor. I like to say that we were “speaking without saying anything.” The only conversation that we did have was about Ernest Hemingway. We kept bringing up how this looks like a place where Ernest would have written “Old Man and The Sea.” Well, Danny has this way of channeling particular icons in his life, and one of his biggest is Ernest Hemingway. He was undoubtingly channeling his energy that day.
So here we are 3 years later and I come across this photo on the Nemo blog. I felt this strange connection to it and instinctually went running through my archives to that day in Australia. This is an image that i found. Very eerie to me: the footstep with the left foot, the subject proportion to the frame, the boats in the harbor, the focused expression.
Spirit and Energy is everywhere…some just tune into it better than others.
