Thursday, April 26, 2018

One Can Only Imagine His Dry Cleaning Bill

Four photos from the same session by Hurrell, taken in 1932 (best guess).  At least I have them grouped together, there isn't any kind of official listing of Mr. Montgomery's photos, even those taken by Hurrell.  Bob is wearing the same suit, tie and kerchief and his hair is the same, my primary way of identifying his photos.  There are a goodly number of white suit Bobs out there, can be a tad confusing.  It took me a while to separate these from the Letty Lynton photos.  All I was seeing was Bob in a white suit, a rather pleasant distraction. 

This first photo is by far the most famous.  The boxing photos used as a background, Bob's arms resting on the statues...very nice indeed.  Have you noticed how dark Bob's right hand is?  Hurrell playing around with shadows.  There is also a mid-chest high photo of Bob with the boxers behind him, a very nice portrait of a smiling Bob.  Sadly I do not have a copy I can use, darn it. 


I'm always amazed how different Bob can look from one photo to the next.  Four photos taken on the same day, but Bob is not the same. A lot of that is due to the photographer, of course.  But Bob had an interesting relationship with the camera, both in front and behind it.  


The photo below is similar to the photo used in Tuesday's post.  More shadows.  Another great photo. 


This last photo is a magazine clipping.  The quality of the print is lacking, but it is still a nifty photo of the young Mr. Montgomery.  It is apparent that once a book is in his hands, he is lost to his own inner world.  I'm guessing this is the closest image of the real Bob that particular day.  Handsome dude, wasn't he.

 

2 comments:

Debbie said...

George Hurrell was a master with the use of night and darkness. He brought out many different sides of most of his subjects using these dramatics. It's always a pleasure to see any Hurrell, but Bob in particular is a real thrill.

Kathy said...

Ah, yes. All of his studio work is at minimum interesting, mostly outstanding, all treasures. An original 11x14 Hurrell in every room ... I could live with that. Sigh. In my next life....