Duane Michals, NYC, 2001 -by Abe Frajndlich  [+]

Abe Frajndlich seen by Duane Michals:

Honest Abe Frajndlich
How the Cleveland Kid photographs icons with his Nikon

What do you do when you see Irving Penn peering back at you through your lens? I’d panic then practice Zen.
What to do when Cartier Bresson shouts as you shoot, “Get out of my way, Be Gone!” and hits you on the head? I’d be frantic and play dead.
And when you ask Annie to sit in a chair and suddenly your camera is flying midair, because La Leibovitz has thrown a fit, I’d quit in despair.

But not Frajndlich. The Cleveland Kid is very brave and has a trick or two up his sleeve. Anyone who can turn a lemon into Jack Lemonade is a foto alchemist. The rumors of Abe’s humor are true. He has the light touch of a jewel thief who can steal your face sans grief. He sees what others only notice, and in a flash ALACAZAM, it’s thank you ma’am.

How does he do it?

Frajndlich mesmerizes with chit-chat
Distracts with catty gossip.
Slips them martinis,
Then stuffs them with blinis.
He shoots away until they say,
“Uncle!” Are we through already?
Can I go now?

The Cleveland Kid is haute couture not prêt-à-porter. Each portrait is not so much a reproduction of the sitter’s face, but rather an expression of the subject vis-a-vis his poetry. Insight is Abe’s secret. Understanding, rather than mere observation, is what defines him as a photographer. To be Frajndlichized is to be immortalized.

And that is all I have to say.

— Duane Michals

photo and text from lalettre