An email on January 15th: “Hello Jean-Jacques. I like your site. Would you like to show some of my images?”
It had been 40 years since we last spoke.
Jay Maisel : It was the legendary arrival of color in American photography in the 60s and 70s. Jay Maisel, Art Kane, Ernst Haas, Bill Silano and Pete Turner would revolutionize everything. They are the heroes of PHOTO and we published them at least once every year. Air France adoring the Filipacchi group at the time, we payed these photographers with 1st class plane tickets.
In 1975, when I first arrived in N.Y, Jay invited me to dinner.
“I’m at 190 Bowery, the former Germanian Bank, you’ll find it easy.”
6 floors: 1500 square meters per floor and in the vault rooms, Jay had installed his archives!
He bought this place in the late 60’s for $ 102,000, he sold it 5 years ago for $ 55 million.
We have published Jay in PHOTO 8 times, I believe.
I have memories of fabulous images. When I suggested a retrospective, the response was scathing: “Jean-Jacques, I don’t live in the past! Let me surprise you. ”
I kept quiet and here is the result: Sublime!
Jean-Jacques Naudet
