Leland Bobbé
| Leland Bobbé | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 25, 1948 Manhattan, New York |
| Alma mater | State University of New York at Binghamton |
Leland Bobbé is an American photographer known for commercial portraiture and for personal work capturing fringe elements of society. He has made portraits of burlesque performers and drag queens; and street photography in New York City’s Times Square and the Bowery in the mid-1970s, some of which are in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.[1]
Career
1970s
After two years at the New Division at Nasson College (an experimental college in Springvale, Maine), Bobbé graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a major in sociology in 1970. He then moved into New York City to pursue a career as a musician. He immediately bought his first 35 mm camera,[2] and became obsessed with photography. His band City Lights was part of the CBGB scene in the mid-1970s and was the first such band to sign a recording contract.[3] After signing to Sire Records, the band put out an album and toured. Bobbé photographed the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, and Television among others.[4] During this time he lived downtown below Chinatown in what was then the Fulton Fish Market, and supported himself by driving a taxi. He started to make photographs on the streets of New York City, focusing on seedy Times Square and the down and out men living on the Bowery.[5]
1980s
After deciding to concentrate upon photography, Bobbé got a full-time job assisting Robert Farber, a fashion and fine art photographer,[5] which he did for two years. In 1980 he went freelance. While working as an assistant, he started his first themed project, "Stormy Weather," black and white photos of discarded umbrellas on the streets of Manhattan. He showed them to the photo editor at Popular Photography and this became his first published personal project.[6]
Projects
Portrait
- Neo-Burlesque (2009–2011) — studio portraits of New York City neo-burlesque performers in stage costume. Exhibited over 3 months at the Museum of Sex in New York City.[7]
- Americana Portraits (2011) — portraits of Americans found at upstate New York summer fairs.
- Half-Drag (2012–2013) — studio beauty portraits of drag queens as half male and half female, questioning traditional views on gender.[8] The project appeared on thousands of fashion and design websites, blogs, and newspapers including Vogue Italia, MSN, and The Huffington Post.
- Unsung Heroes (2015) — studio portraits of musicians over the age of 50, including Gene Cornish, Lenny Kaye, Liberty DeVitto, and Carmine Appice.[9]
Other
- Urbanscapes — people in New York City shown as reflections, silhouettes, and shadows.
- Women of Fifth Avenue (2007–2008) — street photos of wealthy women on the streets of Fifth Avenue between 50th and 60th street.[10][11]
- NYC Wall Art (2013–2014) — layers of ripped and tattered posters on the walls of buildings that yield a pop art effect, taken with an iPhone. These were shown at POP International gallery on the Bowery in New York City.
- Underground NYC (2015–2016) — scenes from New York City subways, taken with an iPhone.[12]
Awards
- 2010: 1st Place, Prix de la Photographie (Px3), "Professional Book (Series Only), People" category, for Neo-Burlesque book proposal[13]
- 2013: Best of ASMP, American Society of Media Photographers, for Half Drag[14]
References
- ↑ "From the Fulton Market to the Forty-Deuce: Leland Bobbé’s New York in the 1970s". MCNY Blog: New York Stories.
- ↑ "Five Minutes With Leland Bobbe". Dodho.
- ↑ "Leland Bobbé’s 1970s New York (photos)". The Huffington Post.
- ↑ "When the Streets Were Meaner, the Times Even Leaner". The New York Times.
- 1 2 "Photographer’s Eye: Leland Bobbé". Image Source.
- ↑ Engel, Nancy T. "Stormy Weather." Popular Photography, Mar. 1983: 80-83.
- ↑ "The Powerful World Of New York’s Neo-Burlesque Dancers (NSFW)". The Huffington Post.
- ↑ "Portraits of Drag Queens in Half Drag". ABC News.
- ↑ Brenoff, Ann (1 June 2015). "15 Mesmerizing Photos That Capture The Spirit Of Aging Musicians" – via Huff Post.
- ↑ "Meet The High Society Ladies Of Fifth Avenue [PICTURES]". Business Insider. Retrieved 18 Dec 2016.
- ↑ Mathias, Christopher (10 May 2013). "'The Women Of Fifth Avenue' By Leland Bobbé (PHOTOS)" – via Huff Post.
- ↑ "Underground NYC: Leland Bobbé uses his iPhone to document life on the subway". 3 October 2016.
- ↑ "Professional Advertising". Prix de la Photographie.
- ↑ "Project: Portrait series of drag queens showing two aspects of their identities in front on headshots, created in-camera". American Society of Media Photographers.