sidewinder Posted August 19, 2006 Report Posted August 19, 2006 (edited) Superb film on BBC last night telling of Herman Leonard's battle to save his home and archive of photos in New Orleans. "Among the devastation when hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August 2005, jazz photographer Herman Leonard lost thousands of his pictures in the floods. This is the story of New Orleans' struggle to bring back the music and the story of Herman Leonard's fight, at the age of 83, to rebuild his archive and his life. Part of BBC FOUR's American Visions season. Fri 18 Aug, 21:00-22:00 60mins Stereo Widescreen" Anyone else see it? A touching portrait of this great photographer and beautifully filmed. Also a vivid portrait of the problems in New Orleans and the threat to jazz there. Edited August 19, 2006 by sidewinder Quote
brownie Posted August 19, 2006 Report Posted August 19, 2006 Wish I had seen this! Hope that BBC International will show this! The loss of so many photos by Herman Leonard is tragic! Quote
sidewinder Posted August 19, 2006 Author Report Posted August 19, 2006 (edited) Wish I had seen this! Hope that BBC International will show this! The loss of so many photos by Herman Leonard is tragic! There was a gut-wrenching sequence where he was checking out the damage at his house. Most of the prints on the ground floor were damaged - many with what looked like 'halo' effects around the faces of the performers which left the faces unaffected ! Herman Leonard was remarking that this was an amazing effect, in itself. The negatives seemed to have been stored in his upstairs levels and boxed up so they survived. He lost his dark room equipment and notes for development of each negative so in many ways he was having to start again from scratch. The fortitude with which he reacted to this news and accepted the reality of the situation was truly impressive. The end of the film saw him moving to LA with his archive and starting afresh - although his heart was still in very much in New Orleans. Just occasionally the BBC earn their licence fee and this was one such occassion.. Edited August 19, 2006 by sidewinder Quote
brownie Posted March 27, 2010 Report Posted March 27, 2010 Recent (and good) news from Herman Leonard! Article in the Los Angeles Times today. Quote
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