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Max Waldman: The World's Greatest Photographer...By Lucille Tortora
Max Waldman: The World's Greatest Photographer...By Lucille Tortora
The Genius of Max Waldman
Photo:
Experimental Nude by Waldman, 1970.
The Genius of Max Waldman. Cont'd.
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Photo: Sleeping Beauty. Performed by Marcia Haydee. Choreography: Rosela Hightower after Bronislava Nijinska. Production: Stuttgart Ballet. Photography" Max
Our eyes are riveted to the images before us. The Marat/Sade photographs established his reputation as an imaginative interpreter of theater , and led to an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art organized by Peter C. Bunnell in July 1967. Besides Max Waldman's photographs, the works of Frederick Evans, Edward Weston, Clarence White and Minor White were exhibited. Waldman was delighted with the company. He felt that finally his artistic approach was being recognized. Bunnell described Waldman's images as sensuous, evocative and darkly veiled interpretations of the essence and gesture of theater. Max
Waldman was born in Brooklyn, New York , in 1919 of Romanian parents. At
the age of eight, his father died; unable to support five children, his
mother put them into an orphanage.
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The Genius of Max Waldman
Theater
The Living Theatre:
An Improvisation based on "Paradise Now”. Production : The Living Theatre.
Photographs by Max Waldman, 1969
He became a successful commercial photographer specializing in industrial, fashion and commercial photography. Books were very import to him, especially art history, aesthetics and Shakespeare. Oliver Darling describes his friend as mostly self-taught, a very determined person who was a perfectionist and a great lover of theater and classical music. Waldman haunted the avant-garde theater with Darling in the 1960's and developing friendships with people like Rosemary Harris, Eli Wallach , Ann Jackson, Zero Mostel and Harold Pinter. His first published book of photographs, ZERO BY MOSTEL in l965 began as a collaboration between Darling and Waldman. "Max was to do the photographs, I the captions. After seeing the photographs, I told Max 'they don't need my captions, they stand by themselves".
With the publication of WALDMAN ON THEATER in 1971, his reputation was established. Morris Waldman, his brother tells of "everyone "coming to his studio; but despite his renown , it was a struggle to keep going from day to day. In fact, it would not have been possible to survive without Morris' financial support.
The Genius of Max Waldman. Cont'd.
Theater: Dracula
Photo: Dracula:
Sabbat
(A Witches Coven).Produced by:
Theatre for a New City.
Photographs by Max Waldman.
In 1970, Natalia Makarova, prima ballerina of the Kirov Ballet, defected from Russia. LIFE Magazine asked Waldman to photograph her. This started his romance with the dance world. His haunting images of Makarova as the Dying Swan capture her classical beauty. We see a bird in flight descending into an abyss; we see movement and quietude, the last flurrying, the poignant moment. Clive Barnes, describing Max Waldman's photographs wrote" Makarova's Dying Swan takes place before or eyes- one can almost hear the music- still pictures are creating movement in our brains."
Waldman's attitude towards photographing dance and theater was different. In
the latter, he was able to control, direct the actors, but of the former he
said" I can't control the exact movement of the dancers in midair;
hopefully, a happy accident will occur." He may not have been able to
control the movement but witness his photograph of Judith Jamison in CRY;
the movement is stopped and ongoing; the shapes are calligraphic lines in
space, the mood perfectly captures regal mother.
The article continues on the following page.
The Genius of Max Waldman. Cont'd.
MARAT/SADE: Performed by Glenda Jackson and Ian Richardson. Directed by Peter Brook for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Photograph by Max Waldman, 1966.
The
entwined bodies of Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins in Afternoon of a Faun,
and the romantic tragedy of Gelsey Kirkland and Ivan Nagy in Romeo and
Juliet all give testimony to Waldman's artistry. Dance finally provided him
with financial independence. People wanted photographs of dancers. The
dancers wanted to be immortalized by Waldman and they happily came down to
his studio, costume in hand, ready to dance for their audience of one. In
1977 , Max Waldman gave a lecture at the International Center of Photography
in which he compared his images to the classics in art, relating his
thoughts and theories on art. That he owed a debt to others, he readily
acknowledged; their inspiration gave sustenance to his beautiful photographs
of torment and passion- still images of movement. Frances Alenikoff said of
Waldman "His genius transmutes the poetic essence of one art form into that
of another- making the fleeting moments seem timeless." At the conclusion of
his presentation Waldman remarked," What you see here are just the ramblings
of my own mind. I don't know where it all comes from but let me quote a
passage by Galileo in THE ASSAYER that I have always loved:
Talking about sound and the nature of things, Galileo wrote, 'Therefore I
should not be denied pardon if I cannot determine precisely the manner in
which comets are produced, especially as I never boasted that I could,
knowing that it may occur in some way far beyond our power to imagine. The
difficulty of understanding how the cicada's song is formed even when we
have it singing to us right in our hands, is more than enough to excuse us
for not knowing how has a comet is formed at such immense distance. My
primary purpose is to set forth those questions which have appeared to us,
to throw doubt upon the opinions previously held, and to propose some new
considerations.'"
To explore theater , dance and the nude in a new light, as Galileo explored
the nature of the universe was Max Waldman's legacy to us. He died March
1,l981 at the age of 61.
End of the article.
