Michael Joseph (1941-) - The Face from Town, Vietnam 1964
02
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19
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06
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22
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Current bid
€ 45
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Selected by Kai Brückner
Over 35 years' experience; former gallery owner and Museum Folkwang curator.
Estimate € 850 - € 1,050
 | €45 | |
|---|---|---|
| €40 | |
| €35 | |
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Michael Joseph's black-and-white C‑print The Face from Town, Vietnam 1964, dated 1964, is a limited edition 1/20 hand-signed by the artist.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
The Face from Town — 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 particularly significant photograph from Michael Joseph’s Vietnam archive, taken in South Vietnam in October 1964, when the photographer was just 23 years old.
Surrounded by armed Vietnamese men in distinctive camouflage uniforms, a young woman turns towards Joseph’s camera with an extraordinary, spontaneous smile. Rifles cut through the composition, serious faces surround her, yet her expression brings an unexpected warmth and humanity to the scene.
There is also an important connection to the original publication of Joseph’s Vietnam photographs.
The same young woman appears prominently on the cover of the March 1965 issue of British magazine Town, accompanying its feature on guerrilla fighting. On the magazine cover she is photographed much closer, smiling directly towards Joseph’s lens, surrounded once again by camouflage and weaponry. The surviving magazine therefore provides a fascinating period reference for the woman seen here and places this photograph firmly within the body of work Joseph brought back from Vietnam.
The contrast between the two images is particularly compelling. The Town cover transforms her into the commanding face of the story; this wider photograph restores the surrounding scene, revealing her amongst the men Joseph was photographing and allowing us to see the context from which that memorable face emerged.
Taken in 1964, before the major escalation of US ground combat involvement the following year, the photograph belongs to an important early chapter of the Vietnam War and to one of the earliest bodies of work in Michael Joseph’s photographic career.
Joseph would later become known for meticulously constructed advertising photographs, large groups and elaborate productions. Here, decades before those celebrated commissions, we can already see his instinct for faces, relationships and the decisive human detail within a crowded frame.
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.
A particularly collectable image from the Vietnam series, with a direct connection to the contemporary publication of Joseph’s work in Town magazine, March 1965.
#MichaelJoseph #Vietnam1964 #TownMagazine #VietnamPhotography #VietnamWar #DocumentaryPhotography #Photojournalism #WarPhotography #1960sPhotography #BritishPhotography #MagazinePhotography #BlackAndWhitePhotography #LimitedEditionPhotography #PhotographicArchive #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 TranslateThe Face from Town — 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 particularly significant photograph from Michael Joseph’s Vietnam archive, taken in South Vietnam in October 1964, when the photographer was just 23 years old.
Surrounded by armed Vietnamese men in distinctive camouflage uniforms, a young woman turns towards Joseph’s camera with an extraordinary, spontaneous smile. Rifles cut through the composition, serious faces surround her, yet her expression brings an unexpected warmth and humanity to the scene.
There is also an important connection to the original publication of Joseph’s Vietnam photographs.
The same young woman appears prominently on the cover of the March 1965 issue of British magazine Town, accompanying its feature on guerrilla fighting. On the magazine cover she is photographed much closer, smiling directly towards Joseph’s lens, surrounded once again by camouflage and weaponry. The surviving magazine therefore provides a fascinating period reference for the woman seen here and places this photograph firmly within the body of work Joseph brought back from Vietnam.
The contrast between the two images is particularly compelling. The Town cover transforms her into the commanding face of the story; this wider photograph restores the surrounding scene, revealing her amongst the men Joseph was photographing and allowing us to see the context from which that memorable face emerged.
Taken in 1964, before the major escalation of US ground combat involvement the following year, the photograph belongs to an important early chapter of the Vietnam War and to one of the earliest bodies of work in Michael Joseph’s photographic career.
Joseph would later become known for meticulously constructed advertising photographs, large groups and elaborate productions. Here, decades before those celebrated commissions, we can already see his instinct for faces, relationships and the decisive human detail within a crowded frame.
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.
A particularly collectable image from the Vietnam series, with a direct connection to the contemporary publication of Joseph’s work in Town magazine, March 1965.
#MichaelJoseph #Vietnam1964 #TownMagazine #VietnamPhotography #VietnamWar #DocumentaryPhotography #Photojournalism #WarPhotography #1960sPhotography #BritishPhotography #MagazinePhotography #BlackAndWhitePhotography #LimitedEditionPhotography #PhotographicArchive #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
The Face from Town, 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
