Dennis Stock was born in 1928 in New York City. After serving some time in the United States Navy, he apprenticed with LIFE magazine photographer Gjon Mili, and later joined Magnum Photos in 1951. In the 1960s and 1970s, Stock photographed many Hollywood stars, including James Dean [Slide 1] and Audrey Hepburn [Slide 2], as well as jazz greats like Miles Davis [Slide 3]. He also traveled across the country making portraits of regular folks [Slide 6], hippies, travelers and surfers [Slide 5].
Twenty-five years worth of these Stock’s classic portraits were compiled into a book released last fall. Time Is On Your Side includes 100 black-and-white images and a forward by Anton Corbjin. “I regret never having met Dennis Stock, nor having been aware of his work the way I am now, in mid-edit on a film called LIFE that focuses on his work with James Dean,” Corbjin writes. “Having looked in depth over the last year or so at his photographs, I find that his incredible eye for detail in life, humor, man and surrounding made me want to explore more, go out into the world and discover how much there is to see.”
Stock produced a book or exhibition of his work every year since the 1950s before passing away in 2010. He taught workshops, and worked as a writer, director and producer for both television and film, and also served as president of Magnum’s film and new media division in 1969 and 1970. For more about Stock, visit Magnum’s website.
There is also the prior book, titled American Cool, from Reel Art Press, containing 260 of Dennis’s best photographs.
American Cool is gorgeous book. I met the authors Joel Dinerstein and Frank H. Goodyear III at the tour they gave of the ‘American Cool’ Exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. I bought the book in the gift shop. The website is my film fan site & blog on Anton Corbijn’s ‘Life’ Starring Robert Pattinson as Dennis Stock and Dane DeHaan as James Dean.
I see the film site url wasn’t published. For those interested in following news & more on Corbijn’s 4th feature film, expected to release end of September 2015 (coinciding with the 60th anniversary of James Dean’s passing) see http://www.life-filmblog.com/
I realize now Shulman is speaking of another book with the same title as the one I spoke of, and perhaps he’s the Director of Magnum photos that wrote the foreword for it? (I own this book too, definitely worth purchasing if you are a fan of Dennis Stock’s work.) At any rate, James Dean was one of the people portrayed in the portrait gallery’s exhibition & book with the same title (& includes Dennis Stock photos of the actor.) I posted on ‘Time is on Your Side’- the book in this PDN story-at my site. Sorry to take so much space on this comment board, but wanted to correct the confusion on two books of the same name, both including James Dean photos by Stock. It’s all good though? So much available now to bring Stock’s work to the forefront this year.