On March 20, a generation of superstars, Kenny Rogers, passed away safely. The first time I knew Rogers was because of his chain of fast food restaurants. The comfortable country music is very pleasant, and the walls full of old handsome guy photos and MTV also make people feel at ease.
Kenny Rogers is not only a legendary country singer, but also a photographer. His musical achievements are obvious to all and well-known. Here's the main talk about photographer Rogers. Objectively speaking, Rogers is a master of landscape photography and portrait photography.
Kenny Rogers' Lincoln Memorial
Rogers has won numerous awards. He is proud to have won 4 Grammy Awards, 11 Popular Favorite Awards, more than 30 American Music Awards, Country Music Awards and other awards, and sold 120 million copies. He has attracted countless listeners with his musical narrative.
After reaching middle age, he developed a keen interest in photography and slowly entered the enthusiast stage. It's a new way of storytelling, he told Billboard Magazine, the most authoritative music credit list in the United States: "I never felt like a great singer, but I was a great storyteller. ”
In 2014, Rogers received the Honorary Master of Photography title from the American Association of Professional Photographers (PPA). In 2017, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum (IPHF). What are his achievements in photography? Let's take it slow.
Kenny Rogers' portrait of him
Rogers began studying photography after flying solo musically in 1976. He took pictures for his then-wife Marianne and some of her modeling friends, and then developed them in a small darkroom at home in California. But playing by yourself is ultimately too limited. Rogers began visiting famous teachers. Sexton is one.
John · John Sexton is a world-class photographer, photo maker, photography instructor and lecturer. Around 1983, he served as a master of scenery, Ansel M. Assistant and technical advisor to Adams. He later founded the John Sexton Photography Studio, which has hundreds of studios worldwide.
Rogers landscape work "Thumb", taken somewhere on the West Coast near San Francisco
From Sexton, Rogers learned the "partitioned exposure method", which is the region exposure theory of photographer Ansel Adams, which is one of the basic theories of photographic science for more than half a century. So later you'll see a lot of detailed landscape photography in Rogers' work. "John taught me the importance of photographing what I like and what I like to photograph myself. That was after his 1986 album Kenny Lee. Rogers' America, which collects more than 100 photographs, was taken during his trip during an annual concert tour.
Rogers' Red Pavilion at Cove Butano Park
"I found myself working only an hour a day," Rogers said. "I go out to perform at night and have nothing to do at other times. So I and my show manager, Jean, drive around any city every morning——- and I'm amazed at how many people don't know what's in their city. I ask people 'Is there anything to photograph here?' And then they'll say, 'No, I've lived here for 30 years and there's nothing...' and then you turn the corner and Niagara Falls is there. People don't even know what's in their city! ”
The photographs capture america's diverse beauty — from distant Alaskan landscapes, to familiar national park landmarks, to the glittering waterways that connect the oceans. Rogers added lyricism and reflection to the picture in this album, and many of the poems were written specifically for the book.
Rogers works
For photography, what was once a fascination turned into passion. Rogers was so amused that he described the shooting of the cowboy photo, writing, "When you're shooting a movie, there's a lot of free time to fill. While making the movie "Mustang" (starring Rogers), they told me I had a few hours free. I found some real cowboys — not the Hollywood kind — and took a big picture. It turns out that these guys love this picture. As for the dog, it was the most perfect model. The next day, the shepherds were herding their horses. I climbed to the top of the barn and quickly took a picture. I'm happy because my hands and feet are numb. Because when I put another film into the camera, someone startled the horses and they all ran away. ”
Rogers Album "America"
Rogers also collaborated with portrait photographers Yousuf Karsh and George W. Bush. George Hurrell studied portraiture. Cash is the author of Angry Churchill, where he photographed hundreds of portraits of important figures of the 20th century. Herrier is Hollywood's premier portrait photographer and a glamorous figure in Hollywood.
Rogers remembers the words of the two teachers vividly: "George said to me, 'I'm going to show you the trick. I call it the stolen moment. Put your hand on the TV, talk to them about the happiest day of their lives, or the saddest day of their lives, and press the shutter when they react. ”
"Cash told me how to capture the personality of a celebrity. You chat with them, make them feel relaxed, pay attention to their eyes, and put your hand on the shutter. When you see them completely relaxed, that's when you shoot. ”
Rogers Album "Your Friend and My Friend"
Professional learning allowed Rogers' camera to change from a Kodak brownie hawkeye to a bigger and better one, with a Hasselblad 120 camera, a Linhav 4x5 camera, and an 8x10 large format camera. Rogers then published his second album in 1987, 8x10 Portraits of Hollywood Celebrities, Your Friend and My Friend, with Elizabeth Taylor on the cover.
Rogers' Michael Jackson and the Bubble
Rogers is very grateful to Michael Jackson for this album. He said that when we first met, I told Michael that I was thinking about shooting a picture book of portraits called Your Friend and My Friend. I know his pet chimpanzee bubble, and I'm going to take a picture of it. That's the beginning. Michael Jackson agreed to be part of the book, which was in fact the starting point of the entire program.
Rogers' Ray Charles
While filming Ray Charles's quad, Rogers remembered Cash's suggestion to let the subject relax. Rogers said: "I told Ray I wanted to shoot him swinging back and forth in the rhythm of Bruce and Ray said he didn't want to do that, so I told him a three-way joke and I shot this. (Note: Ray Charles, American soul musician.) The pioneer of Rhythm And Blues, he was one of the first to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Rolling Stone Magazine listed him as the second of the "100 Greatest Artists." His life was filmed in the documentary film "Soul Singer King". ）
Rogers Album "This Is My Country"
Rogers also played a cool game, using himself to host the country music awards ceremony, set up a sound studio backstage, set up a large-format camera and lights, and photographed the artist. This constitutes the opening of his third photo book, This Is My Country, published in 2005, featuring portraits of 58 country music masters, including Faith Hill, Reba McKentel, Joe Di Messina, Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, and others, all of which are the souls of country music, and these black-and-white photographs are praised for their delicate lighting and delicate tones.
Rogers is in the International Photography Hall of Fame
That's strength and persistence. So Rogers took two laurels from the photography circle. PPA's Honorary Master of Photography and IPHF Lifetime Achievement Award. The awards speech said: Kenny Rogers has been a dedicated and talented photographer for nearly 40 years. His most famous photographs are portraits of well-known singers, stars from all over the world. In addition, he has always been passionate about photographing American landscapes. He is adept at large format cameras and enjoys making photos in the darkroom. Kenny said of his photography: "I have an obsessive-compulsive disorder where I get involved in one thing impulsively and then obsess over it. Photography is like that. ”
On December 14, 2018, Rogers posted a photo of his new year and large-format camera on social media, shouting: "This is one of my favorite hobbies outside of music!" Who else loves photography? ”
Rogers asked, "Who else loves photography?" ”
10 days ago the Si people have gone, when you eat KFC, do you know that the old man is one of the founders? And the Kenney Rogers restaurant, which was very popular in China at that time, is even more difficult to find. Of course, what impressed me the most was the curry beef rice with 28 yuan + the vegetable salad of 18 yuan, which was delicious but also quite painful. It was May 2000, Beijing.
Rogers' Flag