Today I traveled to Washington, DC with some dear friends of mine, Barbara and Justin Kerr. I worked for the Kerrs as a photo assistant in the 70s, just a few years after I left school and today, I had the pleasure of assisting them again.
Justin was a successful fashion photographer who, instead of falling in love with the models, nurtured a deep passion for pre-Columbian art. He has since become a bit of an expert on the subject and has been the recipient of an honorary doctorate.
His wife Barbara, was the team’s fashion stylist, and expert photo retoucher. Her skills evolved to art restoration and now, collectors worldwide seek her skills and experience.
I have to admit that back then, I really wasn't that thrilled with their decision to pursue this type of photography full time. I preferred spending my darkroom time printing images of pretty French models much more than Mayan statues and pots.
Still, they were great to work and Justin was a master at his craft. I was learning a lot about lighting. Techniques I still use. There were always there for me and it was at a time in my life that I really needed someone to be there. They also let me use the studio and all their gear at night and on weekends for free. A godsend and a tradition that I continue to maintain with my assistants today.
When Barbara called and asked me to help them with this project, I jumped at the opportunity to spend the day with them.
I picked them up, very early this morning at their Manhattan studio and we barreled on down the NJ Turnpike. Our destination was the Library of Congress.
Back in the 70s, Justin designed and built a peripheral camera he calls “the Roll Out” camera. The camera was the result of his frustration filming the exterior artwork on Mayan pots and vases. Like Egyptian hieroglyphics, the Mayan artisans painted symbols and characters around some of their art objects. Justin would photograph a pot from several sides and then try to paste the photos together to form one long photograph, but the curvature of the pot always caused distortion. So, he set out to find
a way to fix this the problem.
Now you might say, “Hey. I can stitch it together in Photoshop”. Right? Unfortunately, that would not be available for about another 25 years.
Justin figured out a system that worked in a similar fashion to the way planes used to be used to map cities. He slowly spun a pot on a motorized turntable and then, using a Hasselblad camera with a custom built film holder, he moved the film past a narrow slit in the camera. There was nothing like this available commercially, so he taught himself how to use a metal lathe built the thing from scratch.
After about a year of experimentation, he finally got it right. The resulting negative looked as if you had taken the label off a soup can and laid it out flat. It was brilliant.
Now, nearly forty years later, Justin has “rolled out” over six thousand art objects for books, museums and collectors all around the world. He has published several books of his work and the entire Kerr collection will be archived in Washington and available online, to students and researchers.
I truly felt honored to assist them today.
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