On the 20th of November, 1952, J.D. Salinger (author of Catcher in the Rye) came to the studio and said he wanted a portrait of himself for his mother and his fiancee. Since I didn't [know] as much then as I do now, I set up the camera and light and sat him right down. His expression was so rigid and self-conscious [that] I was at my wits end. Nothing happened. I decided on something I had never done before with an adult. I excused myself, went up to my apartment and came down with "Catcher in the Rye." I brought him a table and ashtray, set down the book (why the hell didn't I ask him to autograph it?) and suggested he do anything he pleased. Read to himself. Read aloud or just smoke.
If I'd thought he was going to be so damned famous, I'd have written down everything we talked about to get the expression we did. I took 48 5x7 negatives. Serious, thoughtful, smiling, laughing, howling with laughter. White shirt, white background. Black suit, black background. But I don't remember a thing.
He was pleased with the results, but asked me not to show the portraits publicly. When I asked why, he said when people recognized him, they usually behaved peculiarly because they thought he would write about them. I promised I wouldn't and I kept that promise for thirty years. My 1982 exhibition was titled "Thirty Years of Color and J.D. Salinger." Enough was enough and anyway who the hell would recognize him after 30 years and if they did, would it matter? What I have found astonishing is that over the years, when I mention J.D. Salinger, young people's eyes open wider and a deep breath is taken. That's the pattern.
Photographer Antony di Gesu
Quotation courtesy of San Diego Historical Society
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/digesu/digesu2.htm
Note: The photopgraphs featured on this page are not part of the collection of the San Diego Historical Society.
