David Spindel
David M. Spindel | |
|---|---|
| File:Joedavid.jpg Joe DiMaggio, David Spindel | |
| Born | David Michael Spindel |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Education | Rochester Institute of Technology |
David Michael Spindel (b. August 31, 1941) is an American photographer. He began his professional career in 1964 working with still-life objects[1]
and eventually broadened his horizons by doing portraits. Spindel also incorporates baseball memorabilia in collage form in some of his work. He is probably best known for photographing John Lennon and Yoko Ono during Lennon's last recording sessions for Double Fantasy in 1980.[2]
Biography
Spindel grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York and graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1964 (studying under such photographers as Minor White, professor Leslie Stroebel, Richard D. Zakia, Ralph Hattersley and Robert Bagby). He worked as a photo assistant for 6 years until his employer at that time, Tosh Matsumoto, encouraged him to open his own studio.
Throughout his commercial career, Spindel was featured in major newspapers, magazines and art publications. Television shows in the U.S. and abroad have featured segments on his approach to photography.
After 28 years in commercial advertising, Spindel began creating an interactive body of work called "Rebuses." Webster’s dictionary defines a rebus as representation of words or phrases by means of pictures or objects whose names resemble those words or phrases; a form of riddle composed of such pictures.
Spindel's rebuses have been quoted as being "unexpectedly different and more fun than finding one of Hirshfeld’s Ninas". Ranging in subjects from all-time favorite celebrities to frequently used everyday expressions, Spindel's rebuses are an outpouring of his inexhaustible sense of humor.
Notable fans and collectors of Spindel's work include: Charlton Heston, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Marty Allen, Stiller and Meara, Ann Jackson, Eli Wallach, Donald Trump, Jerry Lewis, Lou Jacobi, Billy Crystal and Dave Winfield. Regis Philbin said, “David is a little eccentric but you have to put up with it when someone is a genius”. Bette Davis once said, “David’s art is wondrous”. Joe DiMaggio greatly admired Spindel’s talent and posed for a portrait with his own personal memorabilia.
In l992, Abbeville Press released The Bronx Bombers and The Boston Red Sox, the first two titles in the award winning, eight-volume Major League Memories series. Each book chronicles a major league baseball team’s history, in scrapbook form, from inception to present day.
Spindel is also known for donating his photographs to charitable organizations. He has raised funds for the Leukemia Society of America, The Mid Hudson Children’s Museum, A.L.S., Baseball Assistance Team (BAT), Lupus, The Heart Fund, Yogi Berra’s and Phil Rizzuto’s favorite charities (Handicapped Boy Scouts of Southern NJ and St. Joseph’s School for the Blind) and numerous family shelters.
Spindel's original photographs are featured at The National Baseball Hall of Fame.
John Lennon & Yoko Ono
As a teenager growing up in Brooklyn, Spindel loved the music and movies of John Lennon and the Beatles. Nadja Hoyer-Booth inquired about becoming a photographer’s representative. Spindel immediately hired her, and it paid off in a big way the following year.
In late October 1980, Hoyer-Booth’s future brother-in-law came to Spindel's studio and said he had a group of musicians who were interested in seeing his work. They would be needing photographs for publicity purposes. Spindel had done the photography for several Kiss albums, so he was comfortable with the genre. He had also worked with other musicians, and wasn't too keen on taking on the assignment.
Spindel was assured that these photographs were "for some very special people" and he was certain Spindel would want to photograph them. The location of the photo shoot was Hit Factory Studio in New York.
Spindel recounts: "When I arrived I had a premonition that the people I was going to photograph were very special. Moments later, an Asian woman came out of the recording room. She looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure if I knew who she was at that moment. I thought I had seen some photos of her, but people look different when you see them in person. She led me to a small room and left me there to set up my equipment.
"When I found out the first photo she wanted was with everyone involved in the recording of the album, I told her that there wouldn’t be sufficient space in the room she had picked. We then selected another area in the Hit Factory for this group photo. When I went back to get my equipment, a man was lying on a mat getting a massage. I tried to be quiet, but as I moved my equipment, the person on the floor turned towards me. It was John Lennon. I broke out in a cold sweat; I was going to photograph John Lennon.
"He jokingly said 'I usually charge people a fee to watch me get a massage.' I thought for a second or two and said I usually charge people to watch me move my equipment. We both had a good laugh. As you can figure out by now the woman was Yoko Ono.
"Taking photos of the actual recording sessions for Double Fantasy was a challenge. I had to photograph by available light only; using a flash would have been distracting to John and the other musicians. The recording room was dimly lit and the black and white film that I had really didn’t have a high asa I needed. I ended up taking photos with the lens almost wide-open and slow shutter speeds.
"I immediately went back to my studio and developed the photographs. There was no way I was going home without seeing them. The following morning, I brought the proofs to John and Yoko at the Dakota. This was a unique experience also. The security was very intense. After the initial security checks I was sent up to their apartment. There were guards outside two 14 ft. high oak doors. A gentleman opened the door and I removed my shoes as I stepped on their plush white carpet.
"John and Yoko greeted me and I sat on the floor as they looked at the photos. Most of the comments John made about them made everyone laugh, and I felt very exhilarated to be there with both of them.
"As I rode back to my studio, I found it difficult to believe the events of the last two days. During the next month Yoko made arrangements numerous times for in-studio portraits but had to cancel. Weeks passed and now it was the month of December.
"I knew this was a very special time in my life. I didn’t realize how special until the night John was taken from us."
References
- ^ "David Spindel's website". Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ Riggs, Curtis. "Brooklyn boy David Spindel loving Western beauty". Retrieved 2007-09-25.