Portraits A - E
Berenice Abbott
I met Berenice Abbott in 1982 and worked with for the next nineteen years, until her death in 1991. During those years we worked on many projects, some of which prepared me for producing the series of books dealing with her photographs that have been issued by Steidl since 2008. This particular photograph was taken in 1979 at my recording studio, Downtown Sound. We had been working on the book that was issued in 1982 as Berenice Abbott – American Photographer when she suddenly announced she had to get back to Maine, right then. It was early in the afternoon, which meant even if she broke every speed limit she’d get home after midnight. She put on her car coat and a stocking cap; I had my 5x7 Deardorff set up just in case, asked her to hold still for a couple of portraits and this is the hurried result. After five or six exposures she said that was enough, jumped in her Mazda and headed into December winter storms and made it home safely. She was 81.

Saul Bellow Portrait in Progress, New York City, January 16, 1985

Amiri Baraka 1 at 830 Broadway, New York City, April 10, 2001

Amiri Baraka 2 at 830 Broadway, New York City, April 10, 2001

Amiri Baraka 3 at 830 Broadway, New York City, April 10, 2001

Berenice Abbott, Lake Hebron, Maine, July 17, 1991

Berenice Abbott, New York City, November 1978

Bill Carter, New York City, September 9, 1982

Bill Cosby at the Apollo Theater Harlem, September 24, 2001

Bill Cosby at the New School, New York City May 13, 2001

Brassai at the Witkin Gallery New York City, June 12, 1973

Cab Calloway, White Plains New York, September 3, 1986

Clarence Gatemouth Brown 1, aboard the QE2, December 19, 2001

Clarence Gatemouth Brown 2, aboard the QE2, December 19, 2001

Clint Eastwood & Ray Charles at REM Studio, Los Angeles, California July 1, 2003

Clint Eastwood Carmel, California April 25, 2000

Elizabeth Bennett, New York City, November 1979

Elizabeth Bennett New York City, October 1976

Elizabeth Bennettt & Jo Jo Kwong, New York City, November 1979

Esther Bubley, New York City, July 31, 1995

Fernando Botero New York City, October 1980

George Crumb at the Whitney Museum, New York City, 1975

Gregory Corso 1, New York City, May 11, 1986

Gregory Corso 2, New York City, May 11, 1986

Hayden Carruth & Joanne McGlaughlin at his home , Munnsville New York, July 21, 2001

Hayden Carruth at home 1, Munnsville New York, July 21, 2001

Hayden Carruth at home 2, Munnsville New York, July 21, 2001

Hayden Carruth at home 3, Munnsville New York, July 21, 2001

Hayden Carruth at home 4, Munnsville New York, July 21, 2001

Joel Cox in his office at Warner Brothers, Burbank, California, Aprill 18, 2000

John DeVries, New York City, November 1979

John DeVries 1, Sebec Lake, Maine Summer 1978

John DeVries 2, Sebec Lake, Maine Summer 1978

Julia Dean, Blanchard, Maine, October 1977

Keir Dullea at Margaret Whitton's apartment, September 22, 1999

Maggie Condon & Andre Kertesz, 2 Fifth Avenue, New York City February 1977

Maggie Condon, New York City, November 1979

Maggie Condon en route to Sand Lake New York,, August 1973

Marge Champion in her Dressing Room at the Belasco Theater 1, June 27, 2001

Marge Champion in her Dressing Room at the Belasco Theater 2, June 27, 2001

Marge Champion in her Dressing Room at the Belasco Theater 3, June 27, 2001

Marilynn Danitz, Sand Lake, New York, Summer 1975

Marilynn Danitz in an abandoned car, Berlin Mountain New York, Summer 1975

Marion Adler, New York City aboard the QE2, December 18, 2000

Michael Brooks, New York City, November 1973

Nicki & Teri Eaton, Spider Bay Ontario, July 26, 1986

Nicole Bass & Macho Camacho, Atlantic City, New Jersey January 14, 1995

Paul Bacon, 830 Broadway, January 2002

Phyllis & Maggie Condon, Rumsen, New Jersey November 1979

Phyllis Condon, New Jersey, November 1979

Phyllis Condon, Rumsen New Jersey, November 1979

Sandahl Bergman as Charity, The Royal Viking Sun, September 3, 1996

Saul Bellow & Raphael Soyer, New York City, January 16, 1985

Shemekia Copeland aboard the QE2 December 18, 2001

Tom Caravaglia & 36 of his favorite students, New York City, December 2002

Tom Caravaglia in his studio New York City January 2003

William F. Buckley Jr., New York City, February 1, 1999

William S. Burroughs, New York City, February 7, 1984

William S. Burroughs, New York City, February 9, 1984