Remembering the work of Dennis Stock
Earlier this week the photo agency Magnum announced that photographer Dennis Stock had died aged 81. Dennis joined the Magnum Photos in 1951 following an apprenticeship with Life photographer Gjon Mili.
Dennis was a photographer who worked on long term projects, he lived his subject.
He's been quoted as saying:
"I'm not a photojournalist, and never wanted to be one. I am a photo essayist. I will never follow the news of the day, but search out my own stories based on what enlightens me, what helps me grow, what gives me spiritual insight - in short, what I love."
In the mid-1950s this belief took Dennis to Los Angeles where he specialised in covering Hollywood. In the book on the agency by Russell Miller, Dennis is quoted as saying "I would spend weekends with Humphrey Bogart, getting drunk with him on his boat. He liked me because I could give as good as I got."
At that time Dennis also attended parties held by director Nicholas Ray and it was here he met James Dean which led to his shooting a photo essay on the young actor, including the picture he's best known for which shows Dean with his shoulders hunched as he strolls through Time Square.
Despite the success of that picture Dennis should be remembered for far more. His early work was inspired by photographer Eugene Smith but later he took inspiration from fellow Magnum member Ernst Haas as he began to explore the world of colour photography and brought to it his own style and vision.
Dennis Stock was a true example of the committed photographer so I'll end with a quote taken from the book Magnum Stories in which he said:
"I think that if you want to take really good pictures, you do it by not working for a client. You can't be looking over your shoulder, concerned about fitting the formula of whoever has hired you. Your concern is to go out there and discover, to the best of your ability, and hat's the fundamental drive of all this."
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