John Sexton - Kenny Rogers

[Bernice Loui]

Happened across this video (from the John Sexton post on tripods) about John Sexton & Kenny Rogers, surprised.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iglWJ969GzQ

Known about Kenny Rogers as a Photographer since the 90's and his connection with John Sexton. This video fills in some of the info gaps of their relationship over those years. Kenny Rodgers first foto book was Kenny Rodger's America:
https://www.amazon.com/Kenny-Rogers-America/dp/0316754196

Kenny Rodger's second book (like this one) Your Friends and Mine:
https://www.amazon.com/Your-Friends-Mine-Kenny-Rogers/dp/0316754218

was better in ways, but challenged Kenny's abilities in every way. The portraits began strong in the first pages then became less towards the end of this book.
Kenny began portraits using a 4x5 (Sinar F in this foto)
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Then on to 8x10 for the portraits in "your friends and mine".. Notable words from this book, Kenny noted the difficulties of moving from 4x5 to 8x10.


Good to see Kenny Rodgers in this "light",
Bernice

[Michael Wellman]

I had forgotten about Kenny's love for photography and his work. Thanks for the post and video

[Bob Salomon]

Kenny was using an old Super Technika IV when one day, just after he sold his ranch in GA, I got a call from John that Kenny needed to buy a used Folding Focus Hood for that old Technika.
I berated John that he should convince Kenny that he should be able to finally afford a Master Technika.

[Michael Graves]

I've seen some of Kenny's photographs, and I intend to make a trip down to Georgia to view this exhibition. Many "celebrities" have been very fine photographers. Barry Goldwater was a 5-term Senator from Arizona who ran against Lyndon Johnson in 1964. He was also an amazing photographer. I used to work for the State of Arizona in the Capitol building and his prints were on exhibit all over the place. You can check out his work here.

https://www.azcentral.com/picture-gallery/news/local/arizona-history/2014/04/08/the-photography-of-barry-goldwater/7459831/

[Drew Wiley]

There was an old View Camera Mag on this too. Celebrities get attention; but I wasn't otherwise impressed. He probably found some personal space or calm this way, just like all of us.

Barry Goldwater was a frequent contributor to Arizona Highways magazine as well as the more readable but less glitzy Desert magazine, and made numerous trips down the Colorado and especially Glen Canyon before it was dammed. I think he regretted voting for that project.

[Bernice Loui]

Memorial for Kenny Rodgers..
https://oaklandcemetery.com/resident-spotlight-legendary-music-maker-kenny-rogers/


Bernice

[John Sexton]

Hi Bob - Hope all's well with you. Kenny did indeed get a Master Technika. The timing is a little different than you recall. (Heck it was a LONG time ago!). The image above showing Kenny in his studio with his Sinar-F is a 'happy snap' I made during a special private darkroom workshop I did with Kenny - days before Christmas 1984. My workshop was Kenny's Christmas gift from Kenny's wife at the time Marianne!

He used that same camera along with his Hasselblad, on our first photographic outing together a few weeks later. That was really Kenny's first experience using a large format camera in a landscape situation. We photographed in the snow-covered mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Kenny really enjoyed using the 4x5 in the landscape.When we returned to his home in Beverly Hills we contacted Norma Smith at Samy's camera in L.A. (Kenny purchased nearly all of his photographic equipment and supplies at Samy's). Norma had a clean used Linhof Technika IV as you mentioned, so Kenny purchased that camera. He was still deciding if this 4x5 landscape photography was something he was interested in long-term. We photographed in the deserts of Arizona a couple of weeks after that. He also used the Technika IV on our first trip to his farm in Georgia together. That's likely when I contacted you about the folding focus hood for his Technika IV. It was missing from the used camera when he purchased it.

My communications show that on April 19 I FedEx'ed Kenny a brand new Linhof Master Technika that I had purchased for Kenny (at his request, and with his $$$) from Norma at Samy's. She sent it to me, so I could 'Sextonize' the camera. You likely recall that I always removed the rangefinder, cams, etc. and added an aluminum plate to the side of the camera where the rangefinder had been. I also added a different level, and a few other little 'tweaks.' Kenny sold, or traded, the Technika IV a few months later. At some point a few years later Kenny purchased another Master Technika. I can't recall if he damaged his first one, or what happened. I believe over the years, Kenny owned a total of three different 4x4 Linhof Master Technikas.

If you want to waste fifteen minutes of our life, you can watch my video presentation linked above. It will go into greater details. Including my giving Kenny a view camera movements demonstration beneath the seats at one of his concerts - as Dolly Parton was on stage performing!

There's also more back-story in my most recent eNewsletter - which just went out. You can find it, and subscribe if you desire, on my web site. http://www.johnsexton.com

[Bob Salomon]

Hi Bob - Hope all's well with you. Kenny did indeed get a Master Technika. The timing is a little different than you recall. (Heck it was a LONG time ago!). The image above showing Kenny in his studio with his Sinar-F is a 'happy snap' I made during a special private darkroom workshop I did with Kenny - days before Christmas 1984. My workshop was Kenny's Christmas gift from Kenny's wife at the time Marianne!

He used that same camera along with his Hasselblad, on our first photographic outing together a few weeks later. That was really Kenny's first experience using a large format camera in a landscape situation. We photographed in the snow-covered mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Kenny really enjoyed using the 4x5 in the landscape.When we returned to his home in Beverly Hills we contacted Norma Smith at Samy's camera in L.A. (Kenny purchased nearly all of his photographic equipment and supplies at Samy's). Norma had a clean used Linhof Technika IV as you mentioned, so Kenny purchased that camera. He was still deciding if this 4x5 landscape photography was something he was interested in long-term. We photographed in the deserts of Arizona a couple of weeks after that. He also used the Technika IV on our first trip to his farm in Georgia together. That's likely when I contacted you about the folding focus hood for his Technika IV. It was missing from the used camera when he purchased it.

My communications show that on April 19 I FedEx'ed Kenny a brand new Linhof Master Technika that I had purchased for Kenny (at his request, and with his $$$) from Norma at Samy's. She sent it to me, so I could 'Sextonize' the camera. You likely recall that I always removed the rangefinder, cams, etc. and added an aluminum plate to the side of the camera where the rangefinder had been. I also added a different level, and a few other little 'tweaks.' Kenny sold, or traded, the Technika IV a few months later. At some point a few years later Kenny purchased another Master Technika. I can't recall if he damaged his first one, or what happened. I believe over the years, Kenny owned a total of three different 4x4 Linhof Master Technikas.

If you want to waste fifteen minutes of our life, you can watch my video presentation linked above. It will go into greater details. Including my giving Kenny a view camera movements demonstration beneath the seats at one of his concerts - as Dolly Parton was on stage performing!

There's also more back-story in my most recent eNewsletter - which just went out. You can find it, and subscribe if you desire, on my web site. http://www.johnsexton.com

John,
Thanks for the clarification, and give Anne my best!

[Peter De Smidt]

John,

Great story! The link to your site didn't work for me. I get a "404 Not Found" error. I tried Chrome and Firefox.

[John Sexton]

Peter - thanks for your kind words. The link is working properly on my computer, and also iPhone. Anyway, my web site address is: www.johnsexton.com. Good luck!

[David Lindquist]

Thank you for your comments John. Interesting about "Sextonizeing" the Linhof. Sounds like you got the idea for the Master Technika 2000/3000 independent of Linhof. As I recall you now use the MT 2000 modified with the 3000's 4 notch struts. Believe I learned that from Bob on this forum. My apologies if any of this is mistaken. And thank you for the video on tripods. I need to re-examine my irrational bias against center posts.

And count me as a Kenny Rogers fan. "The Gambler" is a fine song but I think my favorite is his duet with Dolly Parton of "Islands In the Stream." Unfortunately I never got to see him in concert.

David

[Andrew O'Neill]

I thoroughly enjoyed this video! Thank you for posting it, Bernice. And thank you, John! I think I would love it if my wife gave me the same for my birthday! :)

[johnmsanderson]

https://austerityphoto.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ANC.jpghttps://austerityphoto.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ANC.jpg

[Michael Graves]

I did make it down to the Booth Museum this weekend to see the Kenny Rogers exhibit. Overall, it was a positive experience. The strength of most of his images was clear to see, although there are a few that didn't ring my bell. White House Ruins is an example of that. He simply found Ansel's tripod holes and waited for the light to be the same. Very fine image, but a clear case of plagiarism. IMO. My biggest disappointment was this. After going over Kenny's book "America" pretty thoroughly before heading down, I was excited about the comments from Sexton and Karsh about Kenny's outstanding print-making skills. We'll never know. Every image there was a computer-enhanced pigment print. They were GOOD pigment prints...but still...not hand made silver prints. For me, that was a disappointment. Another thing that struck me as odd was by the time I got to the end of the exhibit, I felt as if I'd spend the last hour looking up at them. My neck hurt. I think the museum may have positioned them just a trifle higher than optimum. And since I'm 6'3" tall, I imagine it's even worse for many people.

On the positive side, the images were grouped very nicely and was kind of like walking through a performance rather than examining a series of pictures. One image led to the other very nicely. And all his portraits of celebrities were grouped together on the short wall of the room. Lighting was perfect, so glare was not an issue. It's definitely worth your while to visit the show if you are in the area. Just don't expect original prints.

[Bernice Loui]

Gotta wonder why the pigment prints instead of original silver gelatin prints? This adds a layer of interpretation away from the original prints.

What would Kenny Rodgers think of this presentation?
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Bernice




IMO. My biggest disappointment was this. After going over Kenny's book "America" pretty thoroughly before heading down, I was excited about the comments from Sexton and Karsh about Kenny's outstanding print-making skills. We'll never know. Every image there was a computer-enhanced pigment print. They were GOOD pigment prints...but still...not hand made silver prints. For me, that was a disappointment. Another thing that struck me as odd was by the time I got to the end of the exhibit, I felt as if I'd spend the last hour looking up at them. My neck hurt. I think the museum may have positioned them just a trifle higher than optimum. And since I'm 6'3" tall, I imagine it's even worse for many people.