Tony Frank (1941–) - Gene Hackman 1982

An archival silver gelatin print signed in black ink under the image.

-Tony Frank-

1961, I’m listening to rock: Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Tommy Steele, and I hang out at Golf-Drouot, where in front of the jukebox you can spot Johnny Hallyday, Eddy Mitchell, Long Chris, and his Daltons; it will be my first album cover.

Around the same time I climb onto the roofs of the Olympia to watch and try to photograph Louis Armstrong’s show: I’m fired by four or five pros, yet I manage to get backstage, then into Armstrong’s dressing room: my first press feature on the front page of a major newspaper.

After a few collaborations with music-hall magazines (the era’s term for showbiz) and album covers, I join the Salut les Copains team in 1964/65. We live on our passions (I repeat: photography and music). We don’t feel like we’re doing real work.