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The Eye off the Beholder
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120 Crhen^hotographs, all black and white and all taken with an
ancient Nikon. "The kind before they had reflex cameras," says
Cohen. "The kind you have to manually focus and set exposures."
The exhibit promises to be a dip into the deep
pool of American history and a comment on
humanity as seen through Cohen's eyes.
"It's an exhibition of things I believe in," he
says. The collection, which debuted at the
Photographic Resource Center in Boston last year
and has traveled to Washington, DC, Chicago,
Santa Fe and New Haven, is accompanied by a
monograph entitled "There is No Eye: Photographs
and Stories by John Cohen" (available through
Powerhouse Books) as well as wall texts by Cohen
admirers Pete Seeger, David Gates and Patti Smith.
"So much of my old work had never been
seen," explains Cohen. "What's interesting about
this whole exhibit is that I've been sitting on
these photographs for decades... and then as a
teacher at SUNY [State University of New York] I
realized that many of my students were still
reading Kerouac and Ginsberg. I didn't do the
book and exhibit because these people became
celebrities. In my mind, back then, they were the
people and things that stood in opposition to Mr an(1 Mrs $ ams
what the mainstream was all about. That's enough
of a reason."
A visit to Cohen's website, www.johnco-
henworks.com, offers a glimpse of what one
can expect to see: photographs of immortal
scene shakers as they were in everyday life.
Bob Dylan actively creating his famous rasp
with a cigarette, Kerouac caught up in lis
tening to himself on the radio, beautiful
Peruvian children entranced by the man with
the camera, and ancient Kentucky bluegrass
musicians who are so well captured—so
dynamic and in their element—one can
almost hear the music.
The bluegrass and stringed country music
of the American South is a particularly fasci
nating realm for Cohen, who says that until
recently he was more famous for his member
ship in the New Lost City Ramblers than his
black and white mini-diaries.
"We started back in 1958 when there
weren't really any other string bands playing,"
he says. "We sort of started the movement...
I discovered Roscoe Holcomb myself. Now
there's hundreds of 'em playing. But we did it when there was no
one else."
Cohen makes no secret of the fact that his love of music colored
Kentucky coal country, has become legendary for its honesty and
content. It also marks the first film appearance of the now-famous
Holcomb. "What was going on in Eastern Kentucky back then was
important to me," offers Cohen. "You do things in the moment for
reasons you believe in. Like with my music, you say, 'Boy, this
means a lot to me. Let's just play it for its own goodness and
rewards and take it from there.' I never expected the people I knew
to become what they became."
But they did, and for Cohen, their rise is parallel to his own
because he was fortunate enough to have a good eye, a working
camera and a passion for surrounding himself with people unaf
fected by trends: people who make the trends and change the
future.
And as for the issue of fame at 70, Cohen is typically philosoph
ical. "It's strange. It's fine. It's very satisfying," he says. "But it's a
conscious reminder not to rest on your fame."
Sarah Lee
WHO: “There is No Eye: Photographs by John Cohen”
WHEREJieorgia Museum of Art
WHEN: Saturday, January 18 through Sunday, March 23
HOW MUCH: FREE!
W hen musician John Cohen began snapping photos of his
hometown's cultural scenn—New York City circa 1950s—he
wasn't, he now insists, fully aware that the images he cap
tured would resonate with future generations.
"The people I was photographing weren't famous," says the
70-year-old artist, musician, photographer, filmmaker, retired
teacher, inspiration for the Grateful Dead song "Uncle John’s
Band," coiner of the phrase "High Lonesome Sound," and wise
observer of this country's last 50 years. "They were doing things
that moved me, that's all. It turns out the things I lived through
remain pertinent..."
This comment—given that Cohen can speak authoritatively on
the personality of Bob Dylan ("Some say he's a genius, some can't
stand him... and some say he's a genius you can't stand."), coupled
with the fact that a Cohen photo of Jack Kerouac was recently pub
lished by Vanity Fair magazine and that Cohen has pictures archived
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art—is a bit of an understatement.
Indeed, Cohen's subjects—including Dylan, Kerouac, Muddy Waters,
Roscoe Holcomb, Woody Guthrie, Bill Monroe, Allen Ginsberg,
Gregory Corso and Franz Kline—represent an incredible cross section
of personalities from an entire generation. The generation that
mixed jazz and sex, urban decay and poetry, races and religions
together into one groovy gravy; the generation lovingly known as
the Beat Generation.
Having lived through an era that marks a unique moment in
American history, Cohen decided to put together an exhibition of
Jack Kerouac
photographs he'd taken over the years of his musician friends and
his travels through Peru dunng the 1960s. Beginning Saturday,
January 18, the Georgia Museum of Art will offer the collection of
his choice of subject—both in his photographs and his later forays
into film. His 1964 film High Lonesome Sound, in which he brings to
life, documentary-style, the heartache and music surrounding the
16 th CLnnuaL Student
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Applications now available at the
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Applications due Feb. 20 by 4pm.
Call 542-6396 for
more information
Sponsored By UGA Dept,
of Student Activities
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JANUARY 15, 2003 • FLAGPOLE.COM 11