David Myers (cinematographer): Difference between revisions
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==Photographer== |
==Photographer== |
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Myers was born on May 8, 1914, in Auburn, New York. |
Myers was born on May 8, 1914, in Auburn, New York. When he was 15, the New York Times paid him $15 for a shot of a fire in Greenwich, and after being further inspired by photographer [[Walker Evans|Walker Evans']] work at the New York [[Museum of Modern Art]] in 1938, David also worked for the [[Farm Security Administration]]<ref>{{Citation | author1=Garver, Thomas H | author2=Newport Harbor Art Museum | author3=Library of Congress | author4=United States. Farm Security Administration | title=Just before the war; urban America from 1935 to 1941 as seen by photographers of the Farm Security Administration | publication-date=1968 | publisher=Printed by Rapid Lithograph Co | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21229488</ref><ref>{{Citation | author1=Goode, James M | title=Capital views : historic photographs of Washington, D.C., Alexandria and Loudoun County, Virginia, and Frederick County, Maryland | publication-date=2012 | publisher=Smithsonian ; Enfield : Publishers Group UK [distributor] | isbn=978-1-58834-331-4 }}</ref> while studying at [[Antioch College]]. During [[World War II]], a [[conscientious objector]], he was conscripted to the [[United States Forest Service|U.S. Forest Service]] and photographed patients of a mental hospital in [[Spokane, Washington|Spokane]], Washington. After the war he attended the [[San Francisco Art Institute|California School of Fine Arts]] which was then staffed by [[Ansel Adams]], [[Minor White]], [[Imogen Cunningham]], [[Dorothea Lange]], [[Lisette Model]], and [[Edward Weston]].<ref>Exhibition: The Golden Decade: California School of Fine Arts Photography 1945-55, September 4 – October 15, 2010 at Smith Andersen North Gallery in San Anselmo, California</ref><ref>{{Citation | author1=Heick, William | author2=Latour, Ira H., (author.) | author3=Macauley, C. Cameron, (author.) | author4=Ball, Ken, (editor.) | author5=Whyte, Victoria, (editor.) | title=The golden decade : photography at the California School of Fine Arts, 1945-55 | publication-date=2016 | publisher=Steidl | edition=First | isbn=978-3-86930-902-6 }}</ref> His gritty portrait of a heavily laden and exhausted farm boy featured in [[Edward Steichen]]’s 1955 exhibition for The Museum of Modern Art that was seen by 9 million visitors worldwide.<ref>{{Cite book | author1=Steichen, Edward | author2=Norman, Dorothy |editor=Mason, Jerry | others=Sandburg, Carl, (writer of foreword), Lionni, Leo, (book designer), Stoller, Ezra, (photographer) | location=New York, N.Y. | title=The family of man : the photographic exhibition | publication-date=1955 | publisher=Museum of Modern Art / Maco Magazine Corporation | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10809600 }}</ref> In 1957 he directed a documentary film ''Ansel Adams, Photographer''.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Warren, Lynne | author2=Warren, Lynn | title=Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography, 3-Volume Set | publication-date=2005 | publisher=Taylor and Francis | isbn=978-0-203-94338-0 }}</ref> |
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==Cinematographer and director== |
==Cinematographer and director== |
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Revision as of 09:56, 25 November 2018
David Myers (May 8, 1914, Auburn, New York–August 26, 2004, Mill Valley, California, USA) was an American photographer and cinematographer noted for his documentaries on popular music and musicians.
Photographer
Myers was born on May 8, 1914, in Auburn, New York. When he was 15, the New York Times paid him $15 for a shot of a fire in Greenwich, and after being further inspired by photographer Walker Evans' work at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1938, David also worked for the Farm Security Administration[1][2] while studying at Antioch College. During World War II, a conscientious objector, he was conscripted to the U.S. Forest Service and photographed patients of a mental hospital in Spokane, Washington. After the war he attended the California School of Fine Arts which was then staffed by Ansel Adams, Minor White, Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, Lisette Model, and Edward Weston.[3][4] His gritty portrait of a heavily laden and exhausted farm boy featured in Edward Steichen’s 1955 exhibition for The Museum of Modern Art that was seen by 9 million visitors worldwide.[5] In 1957 he directed a documentary film Ansel Adams, Photographer.[6]
Cinematographer and director
Myers directed the documentary short Ask Me, Don't Tell Me (1961) with the support of photographer Imogen Cunningham, and continued his career shooting documentaries for both National Geographic and the United Nations through the 1960s, requiring much international travel. His first major credit was co-photography with Didier Tarot on Agnes Varda's short Oncle Yanco ( 'Uncle Yanco', 1967), made in San Francisco about one of her relatives who was a painter leading a hippie life on a barge.
His contribution as one of five camera operators to the landmark rock concert documentary Woodstock (1970) brought an Oscar and established his reputation as a filmmaker in the rock music industry. That achievement was followed by his cinematography on Johnny Cash in San Quentin (1969), Elvis on Tour (1972), Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen (1971), Soul to Soul (1971), Wattstax (1973), Let the Good Times Roll (1973), Save the Children (1973), The Grateful Dead (1977), Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz (1978), Neil Young's Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Rust Never Sleeps (1979) and Joni Mitchell's Shadows and Light (1980).
Myers also shot the Oscar-winning documentary Marjoe (1972) and The Mysterious Monsters (1975) on paranormal phenomena. in addition to documentary work, Myers was the cinematographer on feature films including George Lucas' early THX 1138 (1971), Welcome to L.A. (1976), Bob Dylan's Renaldo and Clara (1978), FM (1978), Roadie (1980), Zoot Suit (1981) and UFOria (1985).
Legacy and death
Myers was made an honorary member of the Society of Operating Cameramen before he died at age 90 following a stroke on August 26, 2004.
References
- ^ {{Citation | author1=Garver, Thomas H | author2=Newport Harbor Art Museum | author3=Library of Congress | author4=United States. Farm Security Administration | title=Just before the war; urban America from 1935 to 1941 as seen by photographers of the Farm Security Administration | publication-date=1968 | publisher=Printed by Rapid Lithograph Co | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21229488
- ^ Goode, James M (2012), Capital views : historic photographs of Washington, D.C., Alexandria and Loudoun County, Virginia, and Frederick County, Maryland, Smithsonian ; Enfield : Publishers Group UK [distributor], ISBN 978-1-58834-331-4
- ^ Exhibition: The Golden Decade: California School of Fine Arts Photography 1945-55, September 4 – October 15, 2010 at Smith Andersen North Gallery in San Anselmo, California
- ^ Heick, William; Latour, Ira H., (author.); Macauley, C. Cameron, (author.); Ball, Ken, (editor.); Whyte, Victoria, (editor.) (2016), The golden decade : photography at the California School of Fine Arts, 1945-55 (First ed.), Steidl, ISBN 978-3-86930-902-6
{{citation}}:|author2=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Steichen, Edward; Norman, Dorothy (1955). Mason, Jerry (ed.). The family of man : the photographic exhibition. Sandburg, Carl, (writer of foreword), Lionni, Leo, (book designer), Stoller, Ezra, (photographer). New York, N.Y.: Museum of Modern Art / Maco Magazine Corporation.
- ^ Warren, Lynne; Warren, Lynn (2005), Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography, 3-Volume Set, Taylor and Francis, ISBN 978-0-203-94338-0