© Firooz Zahedi/courtesy Leila Heller Gallery, New York

“Firooz Zahedi: Elizabeth Taylor in Iran”, on view through October 29, 2011, at Leila Heller Gallery in New York, presents an insider‘s look at Zahedi’s experience of traveling with the screen legend to his home country Iran in 1976. The series includes sumptuous photographs of Elizabeth Taylor posing in odalisque costumes and fashionable chadors. The series was recently on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and has been loaned by LACMA to Leila Heller Gallery for this exhibition. Before her death last March, Elizabeth Taylor said to her close friend Firooz, “Seeing these photographs brings back fond memories of my visit to Iran, a country blessed with a rich and colorful culture that dates back many centuries.” Zahedi, who now lives in Los Angeles, started his career in New York during the mid-1970s working with Andy Warhol and Interview. He is known for his portrait work for publications including Vanity Fair, Town & Country, Esquire, InStyle, and Time.

Above: Elizabeth Taylor Wearing a Chador at the Shah Cheragh Shrine, Shiraz , 1976

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All photos © David McClister. Above: Dolly Parton

According to David McClister the best part of photographing musicians, other than getting to meet so many of his heroes (Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Sam Shepherd, etc), is, he says, the fact that “they’ll often break into song without any prompting.” McClister says that in the beginning, he would find himself letting his camera fall to his side as he just watched. “I learned pretty quickly to quietly move and watch at the same time, waiting for that special moment to capture.” he says. “The other great part is just getting to hang out and chat with them, even if it’s just for a small amount of time on an editorial shoot. I’ve never asked for an autograph or for a photo with them. . .what I take away from these sessions is more than I could have ever hoped for as a young music fan— interesting stories and hopefully a nice portrait as well.”

A book on McClister’s documentary series on small town wresting in the South (Rastlin: A Southern Survey) will be published by Stephen F. Austin University Press in December of this year. (more…)

© JT Blatty

Flames ignite the night air as patrons revel. JT Blatty’s image is one of the entrants in PDN’s inaugural nightlife and event contest, The Scene. It is currently open for entries until August 30, but enter today to avoid late fees. A Fan’s Favorite winner will also be selected.

© Platon. Above: Albert II. Sovereign Prince, Monaco. Reign since April 2005.

Platon’s new book, POWER, is a comprehensive historical record of our time and a ‘yearbook’ that captures the personalities and public faces of the world’s most powerful decision makers in a tumultuous political landscape.  “Although all of these portraits are of political figures, my portrait project is not political—it’s human,” said Platon, recently speaking about the book. “You put all the pictures together and, I think, it will give us a sense of what it was like to live in these times. You get a sense of the global personality of the power system. It allows us to stand back and to start to analyze what happened, who was in control—that is what this book is about.” To hear Platon talk about POWER, published by Chronicle Books,  click here.

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All Photos © Ron Galella, Ltd. Above: David Bowie, Simon and Garfunkel, Yoko Ono and John Lennon at Grammy Awards, Uris Theater, New York, March 1975.

Zeitgeist & Glamour features a collection of legendary images from some of the world’s most revered photographers, celebrating a dynamic era in all its glory and excitement.  The 1960s and ’70s were a time when mainstream culture was turned on its head. Everything from fashion and music to politics and religion was questioned or reinvented while technological advances allowed people around the world to witness these incredible changes. Drawn from the Nicola Erni Collection, the images in this book represent the iconic people, places, and events of the era, and were created by the most celebrated photographers of their time.

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