In memoriam - Oscar Abolafia
On Monday 30 March 2020, Oscar Abolafia died. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, he photographed just about everyone who mattered. Countless world stars posed in front of his camera. Many more were immortalised by it without really being aware...
The interview below appeared in GW in 2016. Oscar Abolafia operated as a kind of 'welcome paparazzo'. Not one of those photographers behind the bushes with long telephoto lens, but one who got up close, whether noticed or not, and made his move at the right moments. From Elvis Presley to the Kennedys and from David Bowie to Andy Warhol. They all knew him and welcomed him into their midst, at their concerts and parties. And if not, Abolafia himself knew someone to guide him inside the venues where it all happened.
His archive from that time counts hundreds of thousands of photos of big and not so big names. Many of them ended up in magazines such as Time, People Magazine, Life, Vanity Fair and Harper 's Bazaar. But by far most of the photos have never been seen by anyone. Since last year, access to this immense archive has been ajar: Oscar Abolafia, now 82 years old, held his first ever exhibition. In the Netherlands. Because his wife Joke is from here and "because Holland loves photography." And recently, publisher Terra published his book Icons by Oscar.
STAR PHOTOGRAPHER
Anyone talking to Oscar Abolafia immediately understands his main asset as a star photographer: charm. The man captivates everyone with his open gaze, his calm, somewhat lilting voice and infectious smile. He could easily pass for Robert de Niro's older brother. And despite his advanced age, he has a youthful, vital appearance: "I swim all year round, especially in cold water. I learned that from Russians. It keeps me healthy."
It also keeps him on his toes. Especially when it comes to photography. "I meet a lot of people who say they are photographers. Then I ask how long they have been one. Six months, is the answer. Nowadays, everyone is a photographer. In my time, you needed a camera. You needed film. And you had to think about what you were doing. The way I look at you now, I know what the light will do to my negative. I set my camera to that. Modern digital cameras, smartphones... they do all the thinking for you. Being a photographer has taken on a different meaning."
LEICA CAMERA
"I always photographed with a Leica. Because they were the best cameras. Small, quiet and unobtrusive. The other day I was walking on the beach and came across two girls. They asked if they could take a photo of me. We got talking and they introduced themselves as professional photographers. But they had these huge lenses with them. I didn't understand that. If you want to photograph someone, just get close. A 50 mm lens is fine, you can do anything with that."
Not everyone equally approachable? Abolafia sees no obstacles: "It depends entirely on the photographer's personality. If I wanted to photograph someone, I always got close, very close."
THE NAKED CANDIDATE
Oscar Abolafia, descendant of a Jewish Spanish immigrant family, grew up in New York City. The family name became famous when his brother Louis made a playful bid for the presidency as The Naked Candidate in the late 1960s. Oscar shot the promotional material for Louis' campaign.
"My brother got a lot of publicity. Whenever I called a magazine and introduced myself as Abolafia, I was invariably asked if I was that guy who walked around in his nude and wanted to be president. That certainly helped me early in my career. It opened doors. Even today, my brother - he sadly passed away - is probably the best known of the two of us. When people talk about Abolafia, it's usually about Louis."
Just because doors sometimes opened more easily did not mean the red carpet was out for him everywhere. Creativity remained a must. "Sometimes I would get in but not hear anything after handing over a portfolio. So I had to find a way to stand out if I wanted to work as a fashion photographer. And so one day I decided to photograph a very skinny model completely naked and submit it to the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazar. It worked. She responded immediately, not understanding anything about the reportage. I explained to her that I got no response to my normal portfolio and that this time she did. That that had been my intention. It got me an assignment right away."
Gone are the days when Oscar Abolafia focused his camera mainly on celebrities. "I still photograph. Just not celebrities anymore, but landscapes, haha." He laughs flat out, as if photographing landscapes would be a completely unthinkable career switch. "No, one of the things I have been following for about seventeen years is a group of Jewish Russian World War II veterans, who meet on Coney Island in May every year. About 12 to 15 men. In full dress, with medals on their chests. Some of them are 95 years old or even older. The group gets a little smaller every year, but as long as they have these gatherings I keep photographing them."
The pictures are taken. Afterwards, no one sees them. It is Oscar Abolifa all over the place. "I am in no hurry to show my work to the world. I am only in a hurry to take photos. What matters is that the photos are taken and that they are good to my eyes. What happens with them is not so important to me. That goes for my new work and for my material from the past. I can certainly make four more books out of that, maybe more. I have more than 300,000 photos lying around. But if I start spending more time showing my work, instead of making it, that doesn't feel right."
Photos: Oscar Abolafia - Portrait: Isaiah Hezekiah – Text: Gerben Bijpost
ICONS BY OSCAR
ICONS BY OSCAR
NUMBER OF PAGES: 248
ISBN: 978 90 8989 686 5
PRICE: €59.50
PUBLISHER: TERRA