East, London
Jimmy DeSana
Jimmy DeSana
WilkinsonLOWER GALLERY Laurie Simmons: In the early seventies you shot some photographs that set the tone visually for the punk era. I’m thinking particularly of pictures of the Talking Heads you did for their album. Jimmy DeSana: I did the photo for their first single, when there were only three members of the band. Then I helped them with the Polaroid cover for their second album. Then I photographed them for The New York Rocker newspaper, the cover with Brian Eno, and some other magazines too. Laurie: And wasn’t there a Debbie Harry photo, a cover shot for File? Jimmy: For File, yeah. Laurie: And various others? Jimmy: Patti Astor for Artforum, that’s all part of the same period. Laurie: You used a very particular kind of lighting and a particular kind of style. I think your work may have influenced a lot of the photography done at the time, portrait photography, album covers etc., for the punk period. Where does that fit into your own idea of your work? Do you see it as something separate and commercial, or do you see it as some integral part of your own development? Jimmy: I see it as a part of my life, really, because these people were my friends. I didn’t pursue them on a truly commercial basis and I usually didn’t make much money from it. It felt very natural to shoot them. It seemed like an extension of my own personal work. In fact, I used some of these portraits in a show in 1980 on 57th Street. So the portraits became part of my art. Laurie: It seemed at the time there was a real crossover, that your own work and that kind of portrait work were really compatible. It was also the way that you made your living. One week you might sell an art photo and the next week you might have a commission to do some portraits, and they sort of blended together. Jimmy: Right. Laurie: You made your work your life and the way you made your living. Jimmy: I was like a life-style. Extracted interview originally published in ‘Jimmy DeSana’, (1990). Published by A.R.T. Press