Dennis Hopper’s Photography, Now On Display in London, Documents a World “On Fire With Change”

Early in his long career, Dennis Hopper found time to “do history a favor,” using his camera to document a world “on fire with change.”

Good timing. The period from 1961 to 1967 was a less than fertile period for him as an actor after some less than professional behavior landed him on the Hollywood naughty list. His interest in photography may not have kept him out of trouble, but it did help him maintain a sense of artistic purpose whilst picking up a healthy number of guest appearances on TV.

Busy busy busy. (Something tells me James Franco and Ethan Hawke would approve.)

Having redeemed his reputation with The Trip and Cool Hand Luke, Hopper was back on track for movie stardom, but not before he chose the most stirring of thousands of images for a solo exhibition at the Fort Worth Art Center, held in 1969-70.

In the estimation of curator Petra Giloy-Hirtz, who recreated this show for the London Royal Academy of Art’s “Dennis Hopper: The Lost Album,” the work that captured the average Joe’s experience during this period of upheaval places him among the best photographers of the period.

He also did pop culture a favor, by turning his lens on certain glittery subjects from the art and film worlds, including Andy Warhol, the Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones, and actress Jane Fonda and director Roger Vadim on their wedding day.

If you can’t make it to the exhibit at the London Royal Academy of Art, you can view some of Hopper’s 400 photographs in this online gallery hosted by the BBC.

via Laughing Squid

Related Content:

Stanley Kubrick’s Jazz Photography and The Film He Almost Made About Jazz Under Nazi Rule

The Big Ernest Hemingway Photo Gallery: The Novelist in Cuba, Spain, Africa and Beyond

David Lynch Talks About His 99 Favorite Photographs at Paris Photo 2012

Ayun Halliday is an author, and the Chief Primatologist of the award-winning East Village Inky zine. Follow her @AyunHalliday

Dennis Hopper’s Photography, Now On Display in London, Documents a World “On Fire With Change” is a post from: Open Culture. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, or get our Daily Email. And don’t miss our big collections of Free Online Courses, Free Online Movies, Free eBooks, Free Audio Books, Free Foreign Language Lessons, and MOOCs.

The post Dennis Hopper’s Photography, Now On Display in London, Documents a World “On Fire With Change” appeared first on Open Culture.

Open Culture

Dennis Hopper’s Photography, Now On Display in London, Documents a World “On Fire With Change”