“I call him (Phil Stern) the Cartier-Bresson or Robert Frank of Hollywood. He wouldn’t allow the orchestrated P.R. photograph. He made authentically real photographs, and in the context of Hollywood, to make a real picture is odd.” - David Fahey
I was twenty years old and already a professional photographer [for Friday magazine, in Los Angeles.] I immediately volunteered for the Army, knowing that doing so would give me the chance to do something related to photography. The fickle finger of fate had me shipped to England, where I worked as a darkroom technician, developing pictures of the army brass at parties. I was stuck. One day, in Stars and Stripes, I saw an ad for this special unit. I grabbed at it, even though I had no military training whatsoever. I went to Scotland to be interviewed by Colonel Darby. He took one look at my papers and said, “Stern, I’m building this unit with men who can march 40 miles with mortar shells, so what would I do with a photographer?” I said, “Colonel, you’re putting together a very, very special unit and it’s obviously got some special goals and actions in this war. Don’t you think this should be documented?” I was in like flint.
One day I was driving on Crescent Heights, and this guy on a motorcycle ran into my car. After he got up off the ground, he told me that his name was James Dean. I didn't know who he was. Later, I saw him hanging around Schwab's drugstore on Sunset, and we became friends.
Phil Stern turns 90 today, Sept 3rd.
Phil Stern, Chronicler of Cool
Phil Stern : Iconic Photographer
Phil Stern Remembers James Dean
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