Michael Joseph (1941-) - Door Gunners in Flight
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Selected by Kai Brückner
Over 35 years' experience; former gallery owner and Museum Folkwang curator.
Estimate € 850 - € 1,050
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Door Gunners in Flight, a 1964 C-type photograph by Michael Joseph, 1/20 limited edition signed by the artist, 30 × 40 cm, in extremely fine condition.
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Description from the seller
South Vietnam, 1964 - Door Gunners in Flight
Michael Joseph (b. 1941)
C-type photographic print
Original photograph: South Vietnam, October 1964
Signed and dated by Michael Joseph
Limited Edition: 1/20
A remarkable image from Michael Joseph’s little-seen Vietnam archive, photographed in South Vietnam in October 1964, when the photographer was just 23 years old.
Taken from inside a military helicopter in flight, the photograph places us directly among the crew. Two armed servicemen sit at the open doorway, rifles across their laps, while the vast patchwork of the Vietnamese landscape stretches away beneath them. A third figure is glimpsed towards the cockpit. There is no staged drama here: instead, Joseph captures the strange mixture of vigilance, routine and vulnerability of men travelling through a landscape already profoundly affected by war.
The composition is particularly powerful. The dark interior of the aircraft forms an almost theatrical frame around the pale, expansive landscape outside, while the open doorway creates a dizzying sense of height and exposure. The viewer is not observing the helicopter from a safe distance - we are inside it.
Joseph travelled through South Vietnam in 1964 with his camera, creating an extraordinary body of colour photographs documenting soldiers, civilians, hospitals, villages and everyday life during a pivotal period of the Vietnam War. These photographs pre-date the arrival of large-scale US ground combat forces in 1965, giving the archive particular historical interest.
This contemporary C-type print has been personally signed and inscribed “South Vietnam 1964” by Michael Joseph. Numbered 1/20 establishes it as the first print in an official limited edition of only twenty.
Beyond its historical context, it is an exceptionally cinematic photograph: the weapons, the open aircraft, the almost serene geometry of the fields far below, and the quiet concentration of the men create an image in which tension and beauty coexist.
An important early photograph by Michael Joseph, offered as No. 1 of a newly established edition of 20 in this size, exclusively available via Catawiki only at this stage.
#MichaelJoseph #Vietnam1964 #VietnamPhotography #VietnamWarPhotography #WarPhotography #DocumentaryPhotography #MilitaryPhotography #HelicopterPhotography #1960sPhotography #ColourPhotography #CTypePrint #LimitedEditionPhotography #VintagePhotography #Photojournalism #CollectiblePhotography
Seller's Story
My father, Michael Joseph, was a London-based advertising photographer, active from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, and best known for his photographs for the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet gatefold.
My continuing mission is to share what we affectionately call “the other photographs”: the lesser-known treasures from his extraordinary archive — original darkroom prints, test prints, alternative frames from major shoots, his celebrated group compositions, and more intimate, personal images.
For this special Solo Seller Auction, I am particularly excited to include a selection from Michael’s 1964 Vietnam archive — photographs that have never previously been seen or offered for sale. These remarkable images reveal a very different side of his work, made when he was just 23 years old.
Alongside Michael’s authentic vintage darkroom prints, I am also presenting a new generation of works: striking prints on aluminium and my own handmade cyanotypes, created from his original negatives and transparencies in the Dordogne sunshine. Some are made on vintage photographic paper retrieved from Michael’s own working library, bringing the archive quite literally into a new generation.
Together, the collection brings photographic history and contemporary experimentation side by side — from unique vintage prints made by Michael himself to bold new interpretations of his remarkable archive.
I hope you enjoy discovering these photographs as much as I enjoy bringing them to light — sometimes preserved exactly as Michael made them, sometimes given an entirely new life.
All works are carefully protected and packed with the attention appropriate to collectible photographic artworks.
For US buyers: customs duties and applicable import charges are paid at source and included in the shipping cost. No additional charges should normally be payable on delivery, subject to any change in regulations.
Translated by Google TranslateSouth Vietnam, 1964 - Door Gunners in Flight
Michael Joseph (b. 1941)
C-type photographic print
Original photograph: South Vietnam, October 1964
Signed and dated by Michael Joseph
Limited Edition: 1/20
A remarkable image from Michael Joseph’s little-seen Vietnam archive, photographed in South Vietnam in October 1964, when the photographer was just 23 years old.
Taken from inside a military helicopter in flight, the photograph places us directly among the crew. Two armed servicemen sit at the open doorway, rifles across their laps, while the vast patchwork of the Vietnamese landscape stretches away beneath them. A third figure is glimpsed towards the cockpit. There is no staged drama here: instead, Joseph captures the strange mixture of vigilance, routine and vulnerability of men travelling through a landscape already profoundly affected by war.
The composition is particularly powerful. The dark interior of the aircraft forms an almost theatrical frame around the pale, expansive landscape outside, while the open doorway creates a dizzying sense of height and exposure. The viewer is not observing the helicopter from a safe distance - we are inside it.
Joseph travelled through South Vietnam in 1964 with his camera, creating an extraordinary body of colour photographs documenting soldiers, civilians, hospitals, villages and everyday life during a pivotal period of the Vietnam War. These photographs pre-date the arrival of large-scale US ground combat forces in 1965, giving the archive particular historical interest.
This contemporary C-type print has been personally signed and inscribed “South Vietnam 1964” by Michael Joseph. Numbered 1/20 establishes it as the first print in an official limited edition of only twenty.
Beyond its historical context, it is an exceptionally cinematic photograph: the weapons, the open aircraft, the almost serene geometry of the fields far below, and the quiet concentration of the men create an image in which tension and beauty coexist.
An important early photograph by Michael Joseph, offered as No. 1 of a newly established edition of 20 in this size, exclusively available via Catawiki only at this stage.
#MichaelJoseph #Vietnam1964 #VietnamPhotography #VietnamWarPhotography #WarPhotography #DocumentaryPhotography #MilitaryPhotography #HelicopterPhotography #1960sPhotography #ColourPhotography #CTypePrint #LimitedEditionPhotography #VintagePhotography #Photojournalism #CollectiblePhotography
Seller's Story
My father, Michael Joseph, was a London-based advertising photographer, active from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, and best known for his photographs for the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet gatefold.
My continuing mission is to share what we affectionately call “the other photographs”: the lesser-known treasures from his extraordinary archive — original darkroom prints, test prints, alternative frames from major shoots, his celebrated group compositions, and more intimate, personal images.
For this special Solo Seller Auction, I am particularly excited to include a selection from Michael’s 1964 Vietnam archive — photographs that have never previously been seen or offered for sale. These remarkable images reveal a very different side of his work, made when he was just 23 years old.
Alongside Michael’s authentic vintage darkroom prints, I am also presenting a new generation of works: striking prints on aluminium and my own handmade cyanotypes, created from his original negatives and transparencies in the Dordogne sunshine. Some are made on vintage photographic paper retrieved from Michael’s own working library, bringing the archive quite literally into a new generation.
Together, the collection brings photographic history and contemporary experimentation side by side — from unique vintage prints made by Michael himself to bold new interpretations of his remarkable archive.
I hope you enjoy discovering these photographs as much as I enjoy bringing them to light — sometimes preserved exactly as Michael made them, sometimes given an entirely new life.
All works are carefully protected and packed with the attention appropriate to collectible photographic artworks.
For US buyers: customs duties and applicable import charges are paid at source and included in the shipping cost. No additional charges should normally be payable on delivery, subject to any change in regulations.
Translated by Google TranslateDetails
Date of print
1964
Artist
Michael Joseph (1941-)
Sold by
Direct from the artist
Title of artwork
Door Gunners in Flight
Condition
Extremely fine
Technique
C-Print
Height
30 cm
Edition
Limited Edition C-type print, signed by the artist
Width
40 cm
Signature
Hand signed
Genre
Military and war
Sold by
