CAISSE, de gauche à droite

2 SEPTEMBRE - 5 OCTOBRE 2013
CAISSE, de gauche à droite
"Michael Jackson, Chasen's Restaurant," 1978
"The Ramones Sunset & Alta Loma", 1978
"Cherie Currie & San Fernando Valley", 1977
"Bob Dylan & Ronee Blakley Backstage", 1976
"KISS and Brooke Shields, Fiorucci Beverly Hills Party", 1978
"Joan Jett, Hollywood Blvd", 1977
"Debbie Harry Backstage at The Whiskey A Go Go", 1978
"David Bowie, Fairfax Ave", 1976
MUR CD, de gauche à droite
"David Byrne of Talking Heads- Free UCLA concert", 1976
"Kari Klark In My Pool", 1980
"Duran Duran Sunset Strip", 1982
"Joan Jett -On The Phone with Lisa at Tropicana Motel", 1978
ESCALIER vers water-bar, de gauche à droite
"Madonna Meets The Press" 1982
"San Fernando Valley Girls With Marie Currie,Vicki Razor Blade and Cherie Currie", 1977
"Behind The Beverly Hills Hotel", 1977
"Steve Jones - Sex Pistol In My Pool", 1978
"The Key To On The Rox - John Lennon and Ringo Starr", 1976
All of the prints are signed on the verso 4/7 in archival pencil.
The size is 20 X 30" (50,8 x 76 cm). Each print is 2500 € (2650 € avec le cadre / with frame).
The prints are digital output and printed by Milk Digital Los Angeles.
213 rue Saint-Honoré 75001 Paris www.colette.fr tel. +33.1.55.35.33.97 [email protected]
2 SEPTEMBRE - 5 OCTOBRE 2013
Brad Elterman a évolué au milieu des années 70 et au début des années 80 au cœur de la scène punk,
dans les coulisses de tous les concerts de légende, et au milieu des soirées les plus folles. Il retrouvait
Joan Jett, Bob Dylan, Duran Duran, The Dead Boys, Blondie et the Ramones. Il a aussi croisé d'autres
stars, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton ou John Travolta, par exemple.
Ses photos immédiates, très proches des instantanés rendent avec force et naturel le glamour sexy des
scènes qu'il traverse. Brad Elterman nous invite dans le monde rock et libéré, pré-sida et pré-réhab,
où le soleil ne se couche jamais et les légendes ne meurent pas.
Photographer Brad Elterman (born 1956) was at the center of Los Angeles’ late 1970s and early 80s
punk scene. He was backstage at the most legendary of concerts and present at the craziest parties.
Among the stars Brad circulated with were Joan Jett, Bob Dylan, Duran Duran, The Dead Boys, Blondie
and the Ramones; other celebrities from that era that crossed his lens include Michael Jackson, Dolly
Parton and John Travolta. Employing an immediate, snapshot-like style, Elterman’s photos effortlessly
convey the ambiance of a scene whose particular type of gritty glamour has become increasingly
influential in recent years. From the platinum-tinted shag hairdos of teenage glam rockers to the
bare-breasted shenanigans of party girls, this is a pre-AIDS and pre-rehab world, where the sun
never sets and the antics never end. Elterman saw it all, and his images faithfully record that world
as he knew and experienced it.
A teenage, heavily eyelinered Joan Jett mischievously flipping someone off; a leering Steve Jones grabbing
his crotch in an LA apartment building pool shortly after the break up of the Sex Pistols; the usually
reclusive Dylan, posing gamely in the dressing room of the Roxy on the Sunset Strip: the photographer
Brad Elterman not only hung out with all the coolest people in West Coast rock n’ roll in the late 1970s
and early 80s; he also knew how to take their picture in such a way that would capture that moment’s
precise essence. For nearly three decades, Elterman gave up photography, and stowed away the iconic
photos he took during that era. Luckily for us, over the past several years, Elterman has begun to exhibit
these pictures in art venues, in print and online, and, aided by their newfound popularity on his Tumblr,
has even returned to photography, drawn by contemporary pop culture and the encouragement of his
internet fans.
Unlike the cruelty of today’s paparazzi images, which bring us closer to stars only at the steep price
of aggressive boundary violation, Elterman’s photographs are relaxed, chilled-out.You sense a certain
privileged intimacy between photographer and subject: a privilege that is, in turn, extends to the spectator.
Which makes the experience of looking at these pictures today all the more bittersweet. We’re thankful to
these images for still having the power to transport us to a moment that was, but we’re also aware that the
world they depict, with its innocent recklessness, is one that is – unfortunately but inevitably – long gone.
Brad Elterman’s career started with a borrowed camera at the age of 16. His first photo, of Bob Dylan
performing onstage, was published in 1974. That lead to endless nights of covering the rock scene in
Hollywood encompassing pop, punk and rock bands including Joan Jett and The Runaways, Rod Stewart,
David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, Kiss, Queen, Blondie, the Ramones, the Bay City Rollers, Abba, Boney M,
Kenny Rogers, The Who, Leif Garrett, Michael Jackson, etc.
"It was my education in life," says Brad, who left school to travel with bands and visit European magazine
editors at the age of 19. "I had a front row seat in life which took me everywhere from Munich to Tokyo
to Rio." Brad toured Japan with teen idol Leif Garret, traveled to South America with German pop stars
Boney M, and did tour dates with The Eagles and Rod Stewart, just to name a few.
Today Brad is a prolific blogger on his tumblr site posting his iconic seventies photographs and his new
modern day pop culture imagery. His blog, www.bradelterman.tumblr.com