Michael Joseph (1941-) - Through the Barrel, Vietnam 1964
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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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Michael Joseph, Through the Barrel, Vietnam 1964, a C‑print dated 1964, is a Limited Edition C‑type print signed by the artist (1/20) and in extremely fine condition, measuring 30 cm by 40 cm.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
Through the Barrel - South Vietnam, 1964
Michael Joseph (b. 1941)
C-type colour photographic print
Original photograph: South Vietnam, 1964
Signed and dated by Michael Joseph
Limited Edition: 1/20
A startlingly intimate colour portrait from Michael Joseph’s Vietnam archive, photographed in South Vietnam in 1964, when Joseph was just 23 years old.
At first, it is the soldier’s face that holds you. The red beret, the camouflage, the sandbags behind him - and above all that unwavering gaze directly into Michael Joseph’s camera. And then you notice what is happening in the foreground.
The blurred muzzle of his weapon appears to be pointing directly towards the camera lens - and therefore directly towards the photographer. Suddenly the photograph feels very different.
Was this simply a playful gesture between a young soldier and an equally young photographer? Was it bravado? Curiosity? A moment of tension? Was Michael completely comfortable behind his camera - or did his heartbeat quicken as he pressed the shutter?
We cannot know, and that uncertainty is precisely what gives the photograph its extraordinary psychological charge.
Photography often depends upon the photographer moving closer when instinct might suggest doing exactly the opposite. A camera can create intimacy, but it can also provoke a reaction: curiosity, amusement, suspicion, performance - even confrontation. Here, camera and weapon seem almost to meet one another across the photograph, each pointing towards the person behind the other.
The soldier himself gives remarkably little away. There is no obvious smile, anger or theatrical aggression. His expression remains calm and inscrutable. Joseph, meanwhile, does not retreat. He focuses on the man's eyes and takes the photograph.
The vivid colour intensifies the encounter. Against the subdued camouflage and sandbags, the magnificent red beret dominates the frame. It is strongly suggestive of the distinctive headgear associated with South Vietnamese airborne forces, although the sitter's precise unit and identity have not yet been established from the surviving archive.
Taken in 1964, before the major escalation of American ground combat involvement the following year, the portrait belongs to an extraordinary early body of work made by a photographer barely older than many of the soldiers he encountered.
This contemporary C-type photographic print has been personally signed and inscribed “South Vietnam 1964” by Michael Joseph and will additionally be numbered 1/20, the first print in an official limited edition of twenty.
A portrait that asks more questions than it answers. Who was this young soldier? What passed between him and the young photographer facing him? And when a weapon is pointed towards your lens, does professional instinct overcome the very human impulse for your heart to beat just a little faster?
#MichaelJoseph #Vietnam1964 #SouthVietnam #VietnamPhotography #VietnamWar #RedBeret #MilitaryPortrait #ThroughTheLens #WarPhotography #DocumentaryPhotography #ColourPhotography #1960sPhotography #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 TranslateThrough the Barrel - South Vietnam, 1964
Michael Joseph (b. 1941)
C-type colour photographic print
Original photograph: South Vietnam, 1964
Signed and dated by Michael Joseph
Limited Edition: 1/20
A startlingly intimate colour portrait from Michael Joseph’s Vietnam archive, photographed in South Vietnam in 1964, when Joseph was just 23 years old.
At first, it is the soldier’s face that holds you. The red beret, the camouflage, the sandbags behind him - and above all that unwavering gaze directly into Michael Joseph’s camera. And then you notice what is happening in the foreground.
The blurred muzzle of his weapon appears to be pointing directly towards the camera lens - and therefore directly towards the photographer. Suddenly the photograph feels very different.
Was this simply a playful gesture between a young soldier and an equally young photographer? Was it bravado? Curiosity? A moment of tension? Was Michael completely comfortable behind his camera - or did his heartbeat quicken as he pressed the shutter?
We cannot know, and that uncertainty is precisely what gives the photograph its extraordinary psychological charge.
Photography often depends upon the photographer moving closer when instinct might suggest doing exactly the opposite. A camera can create intimacy, but it can also provoke a reaction: curiosity, amusement, suspicion, performance - even confrontation. Here, camera and weapon seem almost to meet one another across the photograph, each pointing towards the person behind the other.
The soldier himself gives remarkably little away. There is no obvious smile, anger or theatrical aggression. His expression remains calm and inscrutable. Joseph, meanwhile, does not retreat. He focuses on the man's eyes and takes the photograph.
The vivid colour intensifies the encounter. Against the subdued camouflage and sandbags, the magnificent red beret dominates the frame. It is strongly suggestive of the distinctive headgear associated with South Vietnamese airborne forces, although the sitter's precise unit and identity have not yet been established from the surviving archive.
Taken in 1964, before the major escalation of American ground combat involvement the following year, the portrait belongs to an extraordinary early body of work made by a photographer barely older than many of the soldiers he encountered.
This contemporary C-type photographic print has been personally signed and inscribed “South Vietnam 1964” by Michael Joseph and will additionally be numbered 1/20, the first print in an official limited edition of twenty.
A portrait that asks more questions than it answers. Who was this young soldier? What passed between him and the young photographer facing him? And when a weapon is pointed towards your lens, does professional instinct overcome the very human impulse for your heart to beat just a little faster?
#MichaelJoseph #Vietnam1964 #SouthVietnam #VietnamPhotography #VietnamWar #RedBeret #MilitaryPortrait #ThroughTheLens #WarPhotography #DocumentaryPhotography #ColourPhotography #1960sPhotography #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
Through the Barrel, 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
