william albert allard

the first words i ever heard out of william albert allard's mouth were "why didn't this guy win?" he stomped across the room, grabbed one of my b&w 16x20 prints and held it up for all to see..."___dammit , this guy shoulda won!!".....we were in minneapolis , allard's hometown, for a "College Photographer of the Year" contest sponsored by the NPPA...

i was in grad school at the Universtiy of Missouri and i had been previously  judged as "second place" in this nationwide contest....allard did not think i was judged fairly....and allard always speaks out...always..

bill allard made my career that day....i suddently went from "second place" to way way way beyond first place with allard's comment....because the crowd allard was waving the picture in front of, was every major "name" in the business at that time...bob gilka and bill garrett from National Geographic;..howard chapnick from Black Star agency; rich clarkson guru director from the Topeka Capital-Journal ("hot" newspaper of that era); kent kobersteen, fellow college student at the time, but later Director of Photography at National Geographic....

that was my one day of "networking" ever,  because over the next 25 years i eventually got jobs from or worked for everyone who was there that day!!! The poor guy who actually came in "first place"  has never been heard from since!!

thanks bill....and relax, because yes yes this story is about YOU!!! i am just setting up some parameters amigo...bill has a pretty healthy ego and probably shifted in his chair just a bit with those first paragraphs  thinking i might just  take this story in my direction instead of his...

bill was always the photographer at National Geographic that i had to "go for"..the man i admired most ..he was the reason i even looked at National Geographic...my eyes had always only been attracted to Life or Look magazines...only allard's work struck me as truly powerful and personal  at the magazine with the yellow border...the others were great photographers in their own way, but only allard had something special going on..patina, gesture, emotion.....

by the time i arrived to do my first work at National Geographic, bill had already been there about 8 years or so....he owned the place..some of his most classic stories had already been published..the "Amish" and the  "Hutterites" and "Two Wheels Along the Border" for example ..soon his book "Vanishing Breed" thundered into the mix of contemporary photographic  books....a standard had been set...

but early on bill and i  had some pretty major, or now seem to be silly, ego clashes....at a party one time, after i had about 10 beers, i got so mad at allard that i challenged him to arm wrestle.....even more dramatic , at another  Geographic photographer function once, with all the staff gathered for an evening of comradarie,   allard and i almost got into a fist fight.....for real....only because of peacemaker nick nichols, who grabbed me hard, and kept us apart,  did the evening not turn into a "bar room brawl"...yes folks, really  sophisticated stuff..yes , i was trying to take a swing at bill,  but nick kept saying "look at me dave, look at me!!..do not look at bill, just look at me"....

but, as you may imagine, bill and i are  also the best of friends...real friends....we almost fought because we are both "straight up"...preferring honesty to "back stabbing"...we hang  out together whenever possible....
party  together...talk about our work together...well, truthfully,  mostly  about bill's work.....but who cares??  his work could only be produced by someone with a strong sense of himself and artistic sensibility to match...no holds barred, no holding back...fast forward....

at those early gatherings in the 80's, parties or whatever, bill used to bring his trumpet...the man can play that horn or, at least, he used to.....he often jams now with his oldest daughter terri who is a successful country recording artist....yes, bill sings too....and he used to do "little theater" acting...i saw him once in a local production of "Night of the Iguana".....bill is an actor at heart...but, he is better at playing  himself...there aren't too many theatrical characters better than "himself" anyway...so, bill gets the "academy award" for playing bill......

bill"s "road to success" has oftentimes been a rocky one...his singular vision is not always "easy to play" at National Geographic , but  bill "bulldogs" his work into the magazine  anyway....once bill was  even "exiled" at the Geographic....fired...gone...back home to virginia...no work....4 years gone....not because of his photographs, but because he "mis-fired" at a meeting with all of the editors and photographers...he had  said some things that did not please the very director of photography, robert e. gilka,   who had hired him out of college in the first place....but, allard   came back where he belonged under gilka's successor, rich clarkson,   who knew well where allard would thrive...for the Geographic is bill's home...

now many of us are heading to charlottesville, virginia where allard lives and where nick nichols is hosting the whole world at his Festival of the Photograph, june 6-9.....eugene richards, sally mann and william albert allard are the featured exhibitors.....allard has an 80 print retrospective.....or is it 180 ??

he could easily do that too...a few weeks ago i suggested to allard to keep the number of prints down..trying the "less is more" theory on him.....bill  grumbled, puffed....got up out of his chair....paced the room a couple of times... and finally  bellowed, "dammit harvey , this is my LIFE!!!!" ... ok ok bill, calm down, just a thought....

he was right of course....this show is his life...and allard's  is one of the most remarkable photographic lives ever lived...allard deserves the praise, the honor and the glory that will be bestowed upon him in his beloved charlottesville...

everyone will give speeches at some point about bill ...but, late at night,  and after all the official presentations have been made,  i know he will be waiting for mine....for bill and i are "brothers"...and bill, my brother, i will give you whatever you want.....

Comments

[Mark Vane]

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[Kelly]

I was lucky enough to see Allard's photos hung in the small gallery in Cville, VA last weekend. I was truely amazed by the work and one in particular. The image at the baesball diamond (sorry I don't know the title) positively jumps from the frame. No doubt by this weekend they will be tired of cleaning the finger prints from the glass. The information sharing and collaboration that computers allow us is fantastic, but at least in this case, the real experience is hanging on the wall in Charlottesville.

[Akaky]

Coming in second isnt always so bad, you know; Charles Mason graduated first in his class at West Point in 1829 and now his primary claim to fame is as the answer to a trivia question, so there's hope for you yet, Mr. Harvey. ;-)

[Clive Evans]

David
First workshop I ever did [coming back into photography at age 50]was with Bill, who had been a long-time hero of mine [esp. Vanishing Breed].
Two problems though, I didn't understand the workshop process and [see other blog] I have a [very small] ego.
The obvious happened,Bill and I had a steaming row!
In my copy of "Vanishing Breed" he kindly wrote "Thanks for your strong participation in the workshop..........."
I thought only us Brits used Irony!
Interestingly as seems often to be the case with learning, you learn most when you don't think you are............I can still hear "negative space, negative space" in my ear every time I lift a camera!
Best
Clive
www.clive-evans.com

p.s. Just returned from Lithuania, working with DAH alumni Gunnar Mjaugedal and Toomas Kokovkin on a UNESCO book project and a prototype workshop coop...................

[Anderson Nascimento]

Great photographer!!

''I do not work with sound, work with moveis...''

[Michael Kircher]

If I may add a little anecdote regarding Mr. Allard...

It was at the Jackson workshop last year. I and another attendee were lucky enough to find ourselves next to Bill Allard at a table in the Silver Dollar Bar. For a short while it was just the three of us! He told many great stories...and he fielded many probing questions, very generous man!

So there we are. Now, the other attendee--no names!--was talking about writing in addition to shooting and said to Bill, "You're sort of a writer, aren't you?"

Bill Allard: "Sort of!? Sort of a writer!? I'm a damn good writer, missy! Sort of a writer. Heh, wait til tomorrow's critique session!"

I was in tears... he had a smile on his face the whole time, but you know he wasn't kidding. As anyone who has actually read him knows, he is a brilliant writer...someone mentioned his last Hutterite story, that was classic.

Anyway, I found him to be a genuine man among men. Very inspiring.

Bill, if you're reading...thanks for everything.

[Nick Yoon]

david,

on the story, it seems fitting in his time of loss he had the consolation of being among people whom he had spent so much time with building friendships and watching their children grow up, and not having to sit in some bar or hotel room alone with a bottle of whisky.

when will you see me again? maybe sicily again next year? highly unlikely i'll be in tuscany this year.

cheers,
nick

[David]

nick...

yes, yes.that was one of the most touching stories ever in print...

when will i see you??

[David]

ross...

i have always found that being intertwined in a peer group of people you respect, to be a very good thing for growth....

i have always tried to find it...if i could not find it, i made it.....

cheers, david

[Robert Clark]

David,

You asked me to check the Allard posting and tell you what I thought. I love the honesty that you and Bil share... it is a model for true freindship.

I don't think you can over state the impact that Bill has had on a generation of photographers. His picture of Henry Gray is one of the reasons that I fell in love with photography and his book, "Vanishing Breed" is the the model that I have in my head for a project that I'm currently working on. His book is perfection. I can smell the settings in his photos. Cheers to Bill and I can't wait to see your work in Charlottesville.

[Nick Yoon]

One of the most touching stories I've ever read was by Bill Allard in NG June 2006 where he writes about losing his son while visiting the Hutterites and the comfort he gets from his friends there.

[Ross Nolly]

David;
Thanks for that, it's nice to be able to bounce ideas off others when you live out on a limb.

Does living/intermingling with the other photographers in your building help push your own work further ahead?

The cross-pollination of ideas must be helpful...

cheers

[Aga Luczakowska]

Hello David...

in this post i like that you wrote about competition where you got 2nd award, and ""first place" has never been heard from since"...
it's important thing... true about competitions, they are not so important as many people think...

btw i like firsth picture...maybe not everybody know here about it - it's also a cover from NG August 1995, where is very interesting article "NG photographers"... i like sometimes not only look at the pictures but also read about photographer's work - i reccomend this article! is realy interesting.. also a part about relationships ;-)

[David]

ross..

yes absolutely , looking at books the very best teacher....

that little girl with the new red shoes just tugs at my heart always....that picture is in "div soul" too...

[David]

hey robie..

so much fun to find you here!!

yes, i remember that night...i think allard did "hog tie" a couple of fleeing photogs!!

like i said, the man has talent...

please come and see me amigo...i would love to catch up with you..

abrazos, david

[Ross Nolly]

Hi David;
I'm quite fortunate at the moment in that i have a publisher biting my hand off for a book project I proposed to them.

The theme is old shepherds (a chapter on each person). As the years pass they grow older and pass away, taking their stories with them. I'll be writing & photographing the project and have taped some fascinating interviews so far.

Mr Allard has shown me that you can do both, without compromising quality (e.g his recent Hutterite article in NG).

Larry Towell seems to have struck up a fine balance between his various artistic endeavours. His photography is pure poetry in black and white. And regarding relationships; seems to have struck a happy balance between work and relationships too.

I'm beginning to enjoy more and more the blending of words and images. I still class myself as a photographer who writes rather than vice versa though.

I find that writing and photography is more enjoyable when you can "let yourself go", but that depends on how adventurous your publisher is too.

I have often thought about taking a workshop (e.g The Summit Workshops) to fine tune my work, but with prohibitive costs to get there, have decided to pick up books by photographers I admire & push myself harder.

Re your Cuba book; I've always loved the shot of the girl with new red shoes....

Cheers

[robie ray]

DAVE YOU AND ALLARD ARE MY HEROES--REMEMBER ONE NIGHT AT THE SOUTHERN SHORT COURSE ALLARD WAS LASSOING GUYS IN THE PARKING LOT AT2 0R 3 AM. REALLY ENJOYING THE BLOGS--ROBIE

[David]

ross..

good question...

i have had for a long time had "cuba" in second place in my mind...i looked at it again recently and realized maybe it was a little better than i originally thought...

the problem with "cuba" was that it was such a struggle for me...6 months of no sleep during layout trying to get it to come out right..i was trying to push the Geographic book division further than they wanted to go...like asking for the yellow logo NOT to be on the cover!! finally, they did take it off and put a small black one on the spine...there was a lot of other drama over this book, but it did eventually come out just fine....my friend david griffin, who is now director of photography at the Magazine, was in charge of the layout of "cuba" ... he then worked in the book division....and only because of him did all things work out...

but, still it is a certain kind of good book...more didactic than purely photographic..Geographic books by their very nature are going to be more "educational" than "experimental" but, after all, it is about "cuba"

"divided soul" is a concept book...there is a country called cuba, but what is a divided soul? only in my mind did "divided soul" even exist...for this reason, i rate it higher...and with Phaidon i had easy total control over the book...no drama..

anyway, both books sit on my shelf...i have a few others that do not...i am pleased you like "cuba"...i am starting to like it a little more myself and , for sure, it was a tremendous "break" for me in the world of publishing...

viva cuba!!!! david

[Ross Nolly]

Hi David;
It is great to read more about Mr Allard (a photo hero of mine!). As I mentioned in a previous post to you, he generously provided me with a quote for an article I was writing for Australian Photography magazine.

There was no financial gain for him, but was a huge help to me, and frankly made my day!

I've most of his books but "The Photographic Essay", is my bible. Every time I pick it up I learn something new. Not so much about equipment, but about how you have to push yourself harder to get the results you desire.

Don McCullins autobiography (titled "Unreasonable Behaviour")is another inspiring book, and demonstrates how hard you must work to achieve your vision.

Your Cuba book is another inspiring book for me. I was surprised when you mentioned that your Divided Soul book was the only one that truly represented your work. How do you rate your Cuba book then?

Cheers for now;
Ross