Michael Joseph (1941-) - Gunner in Flight, Vietnam 1964
00
days
10
hours
37
minutes
12
seconds
Current bid
€ 175
Reserve price not met
Expert
Selected by Kai Brückner
Over 35 years' experience; former gallery owner and Museum Folkwang curator.
Estimate € 850 - € 1,050
 | €175 | |
|---|---|---|
| €165 | |
| €155 | |
Catawiki Buyer Protection
Your payment’s safe with us until you receive your object.View details
Trustpilot 4.4 | 142120 reviews
Rated Excellent on Trustpilot.
Michael Joseph’s Gunner in Flight, Vietnam 1964 is a limited edition C-type print (1/20) hand signed, dated 1964, 30 × 40 cm, in extremely fine condition.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
Door Gunner — Vietnam, 1964
Michael Joseph (b. 1941)
Black & white photographic print
Original photograph: South Vietnam, October 1964
Signed and dated by Michael Joseph
Limited Edition: 1/20
A striking photograph from Michael Joseph’s Vietnam archive, taken in South Vietnam in October 1964, when the photographer was just 23 years old.
Caught just above the ground, a military helicopter passes remarkably close to Joseph’s camera. The open doorway reveals a helmeted door gunner seated beside his mounted machine gun, ammunition belt clearly visible, while the pilot can be glimpsed through the cockpit beyond.
It is the proximity that makes the photograph so compelling. Joseph is not photographing a distant aircraft in the sky: the helicopter almost fills the entire frame, close enough to reveal the gunner’s expression, the open cabin, weaponry and even the utilitarian instructions stencilled onto the fuselage.
The gunner himself provides an extraordinary human counterpoint to the machinery surrounding him. One hand raised, apparently holding or adjusting something, he seems almost relaxed for an instant — an everyday gesture captured within an environment built for war.
The aircraft appears to be a Bell UH-1 Iroquois — the legendary “Huey”, which would become one of the defining visual symbols of the Vietnam War. In 1964, however, Joseph was photographing it before the massive escalation of American ground involvement that followed in 1965.
Joseph's Vietnam photographs encompass military operations, soldiers, civilians, villages and hospitals, creating a fascinating record of South Vietnam at a pivotal moment in the conflict.
This contemporary black & white photographic print has been personally signed and inscribed “Vietnam 1964” by Michael Joseph and will additionally be numbered 1/20, making it the first print in an official limited edition of only twenty.
With its bold composition, extraordinary proximity and unmistakable silhouette, this is one of those photographs in which the machinery, the man and the moment come together in a single frame.
#MichaelJoseph #Vietnam1964 #VietnamPhotography #VietnamWar #Huey #BellUH1 #DoorGunner #HelicopterPhotography #WarPhotography #MilitaryPhotography #DocumentaryPhotography #1960sPhotography #BlackAndWhitePhotography #LimitedEditionPhotography #Photojournalism
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 TranslateDoor Gunner — Vietnam, 1964
Michael Joseph (b. 1941)
Black & white photographic print
Original photograph: South Vietnam, October 1964
Signed and dated by Michael Joseph
Limited Edition: 1/20
A striking photograph from Michael Joseph’s Vietnam archive, taken in South Vietnam in October 1964, when the photographer was just 23 years old.
Caught just above the ground, a military helicopter passes remarkably close to Joseph’s camera. The open doorway reveals a helmeted door gunner seated beside his mounted machine gun, ammunition belt clearly visible, while the pilot can be glimpsed through the cockpit beyond.
It is the proximity that makes the photograph so compelling. Joseph is not photographing a distant aircraft in the sky: the helicopter almost fills the entire frame, close enough to reveal the gunner’s expression, the open cabin, weaponry and even the utilitarian instructions stencilled onto the fuselage.
The gunner himself provides an extraordinary human counterpoint to the machinery surrounding him. One hand raised, apparently holding or adjusting something, he seems almost relaxed for an instant — an everyday gesture captured within an environment built for war.
The aircraft appears to be a Bell UH-1 Iroquois — the legendary “Huey”, which would become one of the defining visual symbols of the Vietnam War. In 1964, however, Joseph was photographing it before the massive escalation of American ground involvement that followed in 1965.
Joseph's Vietnam photographs encompass military operations, soldiers, civilians, villages and hospitals, creating a fascinating record of South Vietnam at a pivotal moment in the conflict.
This contemporary black & white photographic print has been personally signed and inscribed “Vietnam 1964” by Michael Joseph and will additionally be numbered 1/20, making it the first print in an official limited edition of only twenty.
With its bold composition, extraordinary proximity and unmistakable silhouette, this is one of those photographs in which the machinery, the man and the moment come together in a single frame.
#MichaelJoseph #Vietnam1964 #VietnamPhotography #VietnamWar #Huey #BellUH1 #DoorGunner #HelicopterPhotography #WarPhotography #MilitaryPhotography #DocumentaryPhotography #1960sPhotography #BlackAndWhitePhotography #LimitedEditionPhotography #Photojournalism
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
Gunner in Flight, Vietnam 1964
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
