22
Drum: PHOTOGENIC
mastery of the technical aspects of the art
itself. But I am not objective at all when it
comes to Herman’s photography.
I ask him why he had spent so much time
living outside of America, wasn’t he happy at
home? “It’s just the way my life went,” he
insists. Hired by Marlon Brando to be his
pleasure, so I asked him this rather sheepishly .
“Sure!” he replies like a bullet. “How about
yours?” I gasp for words. “What you’re doing
now,” he says, “is something that you get joy,
personal pleasure out of, yes? It’s not a
question of the money so much as the
accomplishment of it and the true satisfaction
that you’re devoting your time to something
“ A lot of the pictures I shot in those days were not reproducible
in news print – they’re too dark. In a fine quality magazine like
Drum, yeah, but we didn’t have any fine quality jazz magazines.”
personal photographer in 1954, they travelled
to the Far East and on their way back, Herman
stopped off in Paris. “France, as opposed to
America, was a colonial empire with a certain
amount of tolerance of other colours and
cultures, so when black musicians came over
who were very well known the French were
enchanted. They weren’t producing anything
of their own in that field, so they were very
welcoming.”
Whilst in Paris Herman also worked in fashion
and advertising and served as the European
photographer for Playboy magazine. It seemed
to me then that the pages of his life have
always revolved around his search for personal
that you consider rewarding and worthwhile.
Some others may even agree with you. And
that’s all there is: the pursuit of happiness;
what the hell! What more is there in life?”
What are you up to these days? I ask. “I’m
redoing a Bellacq series, if you will. I call him
the Toulouse-Lautrec of New Orleans.”
Lautrec befriended the prostitutes of Paris and
drew and painted them. Apparently, Bellacq
did the very same thing in New Orleans in the
1900s but with a camera. “It keeps my juices
flowing. I get all these naked ladies to parade
in front of me with a camera in my hand, but
that’s about all I can do.” None of the women
photographed for this project are prostitutes; »