Michael Joseph (1941-) - Penny in the woods
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Selected by Kai Brückner
Over 35 years' experience; former gallery owner and Museum Folkwang curator.
Estimate € 600 - € 800
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Description from the seller
PENNY IN THE WOODS
Photo taken in the 1960s
Gelatin silver print
By Michael Joseph
A moment suspended in dappled woodland light.
Penny in the Woods is an intimate, quietly powerful portrait from the 1960s — a study in softness and shadow. The composition is beautifully restrained: a young girl partially veiled by falling hair, one hand resting lightly against tree bark, her face turned inward. Light grazes her skin and catches fine strands of hair in silvery relief, while deep woodland shadows gather protectively around her.
Michael Joseph’s instinct for tenderness is unmistakable. The grain, the gentle fall-off at the edges, the richness of the blacks — all speak of a photographer working instinctively with available light and emotional proximity. This is not merely a portrait, but a meditation on stillness, trust, and the fragile atmosphere of a summer afternoon.
Taken while Michael was studying at the London College of Printing, before he became a highly regarded advertising photographer, this image belongs to an earlier, formative chapter of his life. There is something particularly poignant in that context — little would he have imagined that within five years he would be photographing the banquet scene for the Rolling Stones, stepping from quiet woodland intimacy into the charged theatre of rock history. The sensitivity visible here would remain constant, even as the stages grew larger.
The handwritten margin inscription and signature anchor the print firmly in its period, preserving both authorship and memory in the artist’s own hand.
Paper size:
50.5 cm wide x 38.5 cm high
Condition:
Vintage darkroom print with natural age character consistent with the period.
Dispatch:
Carefully packed flat between archival materials and protective boards, sent fully tracked and insured.
This is a one-off historical piece — not a reproduction, but a photograph born in the darkroom and carried forward through time. Sold as seen, ready to be framed according to your own vision.
I pack and dispatch each print with the utmost care and devotion, mindful that these photographs are fragments of lived history entrusted into new hands.
Seller's Story
My father, Michael Joseph, was a London-based advertising photographer from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s. Over those decades, he produced an extraordinary body of work—his most widely recognised image being the iconic Beggars Banquet gatefold for the Rolling Stones.
My ongoing mission is to share and celebrate what we call “the other photos”: the lesser-known but no less compelling images from his archive. These are the works that lived beyond the headlines—test prints, alternative frames from major shoots, and quieter, more personal photographs, all made with his characteristic intensity, discipline, and devotion to craft.
Much of their atmosphere comes from the darkroom itself. These are photographs shaped by light, timing, and handwork: intricate group compositions, sculptural still lifes, and moments that invite the viewer to linger and look again. Variety is central to the archive, and I frequently offer unique, one-off pieces that exist nowhere else.
I hope you enjoy discovering my father’s work as much as I enjoy sharing it, and that you find here not just an image, but a genuine piece of photographic history.
All works are dispatched carefully protected, and packed with devotion and care, appropriate to a one-off historical photographic print.
US purchasers please note: Customs and excise charges are paid at source and included in the postage fee. No further charges should be due on delivery, unless regulations change.
PENNY IN THE WOODS
Photo taken in the 1960s
Gelatin silver print
By Michael Joseph
A moment suspended in dappled woodland light.
Penny in the Woods is an intimate, quietly powerful portrait from the 1960s — a study in softness and shadow. The composition is beautifully restrained: a young girl partially veiled by falling hair, one hand resting lightly against tree bark, her face turned inward. Light grazes her skin and catches fine strands of hair in silvery relief, while deep woodland shadows gather protectively around her.
Michael Joseph’s instinct for tenderness is unmistakable. The grain, the gentle fall-off at the edges, the richness of the blacks — all speak of a photographer working instinctively with available light and emotional proximity. This is not merely a portrait, but a meditation on stillness, trust, and the fragile atmosphere of a summer afternoon.
Taken while Michael was studying at the London College of Printing, before he became a highly regarded advertising photographer, this image belongs to an earlier, formative chapter of his life. There is something particularly poignant in that context — little would he have imagined that within five years he would be photographing the banquet scene for the Rolling Stones, stepping from quiet woodland intimacy into the charged theatre of rock history. The sensitivity visible here would remain constant, even as the stages grew larger.
The handwritten margin inscription and signature anchor the print firmly in its period, preserving both authorship and memory in the artist’s own hand.
Paper size:
50.5 cm wide x 38.5 cm high
Condition:
Vintage darkroom print with natural age character consistent with the period.
Dispatch:
Carefully packed flat between archival materials and protective boards, sent fully tracked and insured.
This is a one-off historical piece — not a reproduction, but a photograph born in the darkroom and carried forward through time. Sold as seen, ready to be framed according to your own vision.
I pack and dispatch each print with the utmost care and devotion, mindful that these photographs are fragments of lived history entrusted into new hands.
Seller's Story
My father, Michael Joseph, was a London-based advertising photographer from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s. Over those decades, he produced an extraordinary body of work—his most widely recognised image being the iconic Beggars Banquet gatefold for the Rolling Stones.
My ongoing mission is to share and celebrate what we call “the other photos”: the lesser-known but no less compelling images from his archive. These are the works that lived beyond the headlines—test prints, alternative frames from major shoots, and quieter, more personal photographs, all made with his characteristic intensity, discipline, and devotion to craft.
Much of their atmosphere comes from the darkroom itself. These are photographs shaped by light, timing, and handwork: intricate group compositions, sculptural still lifes, and moments that invite the viewer to linger and look again. Variety is central to the archive, and I frequently offer unique, one-off pieces that exist nowhere else.
I hope you enjoy discovering my father’s work as much as I enjoy sharing it, and that you find here not just an image, but a genuine piece of photographic history.
All works are dispatched carefully protected, and packed with devotion and care, appropriate to a one-off historical photographic print.
US purchasers please note: Customs and excise charges are paid at source and included in the postage fee. No further charges should be due on delivery, unless regulations change.
Details
Date of print
1964
Artist
Michael Joseph (1941-)
Sold by
Owner or reseller
Title of artwork
Penny in the woods
Condition
Original State
Technique
Gelatin-silver print
Height
30 cm
Edition
Unique vintage photograph
Width
43 cm
Signature
Hand signed
Genre
Portrait
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