Those of you who have read this post [photoblog.com] know that I like the Raymond Chandler / Ellroy James world view; that cynical, terse yet lyrical, Manichaean and profoundly pessimistic approach to life is so rich and so fascinating. What’s more, anything that takes itself so seriously is screaming out for parody.
It’s inevitable that Hopper’s iconic Nighthawks painting would appeal to me. Those brightly lit people, all alone and not talking to each other, in a dark, empty world epitomise the whole Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, Maltese Falcon ethos for me. Even the painting is very grainy in a film-like way and it should come as no surprise that it and the Maltese Falcon are contemporaneous.
I was at a loose end tonight. Perhaps unfortunately (for me, at least), I have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Athens’ bars and there’s one whose long, pure lines and empty volumes are very evocative of Hopper’s work. This place is a photographer’s dream. It’s called “Hell’s Kitchen” and these are some of the pictures I took tonight. Its name, proximity to a very seedy part of town and the incongruity of it (it’s actually a very friendly place in the most unlikely setting) just made it a must.
They were rather flattered that someone should turn up with a camera, tripod and all the paraphernalia of a ‘serious’ photographer and express the wish to compare their restaurant bar with a Hopper painting. They won’t be best pleased when I show how much I emphasised the emptiness.
I initially wanted to do Weegee-style harsh flash photography, but I wasn’t comfortable with the results. Besides, there were no dead bodies to hand, but I’ve kept him in the title for the euphony.
I tried to emulate the lighting, colours and graininess of the oil painting - it's the sincerest form of flattery after all - right down to adding noise and blurring my camera's razor-sharp captures. Somehow, monochromes struck me as moving away from the original idea. Well, you be the judge. There was a great capture of the surprisingly photogenic chef and the waiter turning away from each other, marred most unfortunately by the waiter's striking resemblance to a bearded John Lenon, so it was cut from this post. Oh well…
There won’t be a Friday fun post, so I’ll wish you all a happy and relaxing weekend now. If you’re at a loose end, why not rent the Maltese Falcon?
Why oh why can't you wear a Homburg?
I know: this one's a bust
Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, oil on canvas,1942
I'm a big fan of Hopper and this is a charming tribute to the best known of his works. If you haven't seen it you'll really enjoy 'Far from Heaven' with its Hopper references. It created the 1950s "look" by using the same type of lighting equipment (incandescent), the same lighting techniques, and the same type of lens filters when shooting the film, as would have been used on a 1950s era melodrama. It is an artistic masterpiece.