Govinda Gallery

Kamsa Youth with the Blossom of Culebra Borrachera, Sibundoy, June, 1953. Copyright © Richard Evans Schultes. All Rights Reserved.

Richard Evans Schultes (1915-2001) was probably the greatest explorer of the Amazon, and regarded among anthropologists and seekers alike as the “father of ethnobotany.” Taking what was meant to be a short leave from Harvard in 1941, he surveyed the Amazon basin almost continuously for twelve years, during which time he lived among two dozen different Indian tribes, mapped rivers, secretly sought sources of rubber for the US government during WWII, and collected and classified 30,000 botanical specimens, including 2,000 new medicinal plants. Schultes chronicled his stay there in hundreds of remarkable photographs of the tribes and the land, evocative of the great documentary photographers such as Edward Sheriff Curtis.

Richard Evans Schultes photographs are available in limited edition estate-stamped prints through Govinda Gallery.

A fully illustrated catalogue, The Lost Amazon: The Photographic Journey of Richard Evans Schultes (Chronicle Books, 2005) is available through Govinda Gallery.

The Lost Amazon: The Photographic Journey of Richard Evans Scultes by Wade Davis, Foreword by Andrew Weil, M.D., Afterword by Chris Murray (Chronicle Books, 2005).

Schultes and four Makuna boys taking shelter from a rainstorm in the cracks of a cliff in the falls at Yayacopi, Rio Apaporis. On the back of this photograph Schultes wrote “Rock of ages cleft for me.” February, 1952. Copyright © Richard Evans Schultes. All Rights Reserved.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Abbey Road Studios February 28, 1967. Copyright © Henry Grossman. All Rights Reserved.

Henry Grossman started working as a freelance photographer in the early 1960’s, covering stories for Newsweek, Time, Life, Paris Match, and other publications.

In 2008 Govinda Gallery presented Grossman’s first exhibition of photographs featuring a selection of his images of the Beatles in 1967 composing, arranging, and recording “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” at Abbey Road Studios in London. That exhibition also celebrated the publication of Grossman’s limited edition book Kaleidoscope Eyes: A Day in the Life of Sgt. Pepper (Curvebender Publishing, 2008), edited by Kevin Ryan and Brain Kehew.

The Washington Post published a photograph of Grossman’s and an interview by Paul Richard on November 16th, 2008 during Grossman’s exhibition at Govinda Gallery. In it John Lennon is quoted as saying of Grossman; “He travels the world with us. He’s our friend.”

Grossman’s photographs are a ‘who’s who’ of our times and include subjects such as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, John F. Kennedy, Thelonious Monk, Rudolph Nureyev, Luciano Pavarotti, Andy Warhol, Tennessee Williams, Leonard Burnstein, Barbara Streisand, and many others.

Grossman is also an accomplished actor and singer.

Henry Grossman’s photographs are available through Govinda Gallery.

George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Abbey Road Studios February 28, 1967. Copyright © Henry Grossman. All Rights Reserved.

Bruce Springsteen, Corvette Winter, 1978. Copyright ©Frank Stefanko. All Rights Reserved.

Govinda Gallery hosted Frank Stefanko’s first exhibition of his photographs of Bruce Springsteen, in September 2003. When Frank first showed his photographs of Springsteen a year earlier to gallery director Chris Murray, Murray instantly recognized them as classic images of Springsteen, at a crucial time in his musical career.

Stefanko’s exhibition at Govinda was also a launch for his book Days of Hope and Dreams: An Intimate Portrait of Bruce Springsteen (Insight Editions, 2003). Springsteen contributed an introduction to the book and in it he wrote; “Frank always shot your internal life… His photos had a purity and poetry… He showed me the people I was writing about in my songs. He showed me the part of me that was still one of them.” Chris Murray edited Days of Hope and Dreams and in the foreword he writes: “Springsteen’s music has entered the American vernacular. Frank Stefanko’s photographs, like Bruce Springsteen’s songs, won’t fade away.”

Since the time of Stefanko’s first exhibition at Govinda in 2003 he has gone on to exhibit his work in museums and galleries internationally.

Patti Smith, The Portal, 1974. Copyright ©Frank Stefanko. All Rights Reserved.

Govinda Gallery also presented Frank Stefanko’s first exhibition of his remarkable photographs of Patti Smith, in September 2006. Frank and Patti have been friends since 1965 when they were in college together in New Jersey. Stefanko’s photographs of Patti Smith are a compelling and essential document of the poet, musician, and artist. That exhibition also celebrated the publication of Patti Smith: American Artist (Insight Editions, 2006). Lenny Kaye contributed an introduction to the book and in it he writes: “Frank was there to record that first flash of solar flare, when we plugged into poetry’s kilowatts.” Govinda’s Chris Murray edited Patti Smith: American Artist and wrote the afterword.

Frank Stefanko’s photographs are available through Govinda Gallery.

Days of Hope and Dreams: An Intimate Portrait of Bruce Springsteen (Insight Editions, 2003), and Patti Smith: American Artist (Insight Editions, 2006) by Frank Stefanko.

Lunch Time, Sheffield, Alabama. Copyright © Alfred Wertheimer. All Rights Reserved.

Soon after graduating from Cooper Union’s School of Art in New York City in 1951, Alfred Wertheimer began his career as a photojournalist, publishing his work in such magazines as Life and Paris Match. When RCA Victor asked him to photograph the studio’s newest recording artist in 1956, Wertheimer turned the publicity assignment into a unique opportunity to document Elvis Presley. With the sensibility of a reporter and the imagination of a visual artist, Wertheimer observed his subject and environment as no photographer had done before or after.

Wertheimer’s photographs of Elvis are a national treasure, and stand as a unique visual record of one of the most exciting and influential performers of all time. Taken in 1956, Wertheimer’s photographs document Elvis at the defining moment of his explosive emergence onto the cultural landscape. After these photos were taken, no photographer ever again had the access to Elvis that Wertheimer enjoyed. Apart from Elvis’ own recordings from this period, Wertheimer’s photographs are the most compelling vintage document of Elvis in 1956.

Alfred Wertheimer’s photographs are available through Govinda Gallery.

Elvis at 21: New York to Memphis (Insight Editions, 2006), and Elvis 1956: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer (Welcome Books, 2009).

Copyright © Scott Smith. All Rights Reserved.

In 1974 Scott Smith was a young photographer living in San Diego, when he was introduced by a mutual friend to Tom Waits. Both Waits and Smith had a passion for music and they soon became friends. Smith’s compelling black and white photographs of Waits document his start as a folk singer and songwriter, and then through a period of time during which Waits’ musical persona emerged.

Smith photographed Waits relaxing with friends, in performance, at his apartment, cruising in his car, playing pool, talking with locals at a lunch counter, and more, while at the same time photographing the Southern Californian environment they both grew up in. Smith’s images give us an intimate portrait of Tom Waits in the process of defining himself as a musical artist and the environment he lived in.

Scott Smith started taking photographs in the early 1970s in San Diego, California. Aside from several months in the mining districts of South Wales, and road trips around the Southwestern United States, Smith’s photographic work focused largely on Southern California. By the mid-seventies Smith became a shipyard welder in Newport News Virginia and later returned to San Diego to pursue a career as union construction electrician. In 1988 Smith received a degree from San Diego State University and in 2004 a PhD in British history from the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently a lecturer in American and Russian history at the University of Pittsburgh.

Scott Smith’s limited edition photographs are available through Govinda Gallery.

Alec and Ian MacKaye, Washington, DC, 1980. Copyright ©Susie J. Horgan All Rights Reserved.

Susie J. Horgan was a young photographer when she met Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye at her ice-cream scooping job at Haagen-Dazs in Georgetown. Horgan began to photograph her D.C. friends who played in hardcore punk bands and hasn’t stopped taking pictures since. A prolific photographer of the social conscience, she has documented life in Cuba and Haiti and takes pictures regularly for Shake-a-Leg Miami. She continues to photograph her friends and their bands and is working on a series of portraits of authors. She lives in Miami with her husband and son.

In 2007 Horgan’s book Punk Love was published (Universe/Rizzoli) and her photographs from the book were exhibited at Govinda Gallery for the first time. Punk Love is a unique document of the birth of the early Washington, D.C. punk movement. Horgan’s photographs of punk legends Minor Threat, S.O.A., No End, the Teen Idles and others reflect the exuberance, honesty, and integrity of a movement whose optimism still resonates today.

“For all the kids with open minds, and for all the kids without, punk love.”
– Susie J. Horgan

Susie J. Horgan, Punk Love (Universe/Rizzoli, 2007).

The Rolling Stones. Copyright ©Gered Mankowitz. All Rights Reserved.

Gered Mankowitz has been “court photographer” to a number of extraordinary rock music figures. During the Rolling Stones’ formative years (1965-1967), he was their friend, traveling companion and photographer, capturing striking images of the band at work and at play. His photograph for the cover of their album Between the Buttons is regarded by many as one of the most important images in the history of rock and roll photography. Mankowitz also photographed the cover of the Rolling Stones album December’s Children.

Mankowitz was 18 years old when he first photographed the Rolling Stones in 1965, and quickly became an insider – and remained one for the next three years. That relationship is the subject of the beautiful limited edition autographed book, Rolling Stones: Masons Yard to Primrose Hill, 1965-1967, published by Genesis Publications.

Mankowitz also produced remarkable portraits of Jimi Hendrix, one of which was used for the cover of the compilation album Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Experience, released in 1993. Among his other notable subjects are Paul McCartney, Marianne Faithfull, Billy Idol, Small Faces, Duran Duran, Traffic and the Yardbirds, and many more. Mankowitz is one of the most important of the generation of photographers who came out of England in the 1960s.

Mankowitz has had three one-person exhibitions at Govinda Gallery; Rolling Stones: Masons Yard to Primrose Hill, 1966 – 1967, Photographs in 1995, Eye Contact in 1998, and Photographs of The Rolling Stones in 2005 . Mankowitz has also been included in many group exhibitions at Govinda Gallery including The Jimi Hendrix Exhibition in 1993, and George Harrison, 1943 – 2001: A Photographic Tribute in 2002. His work is featured in the touring museum exhibition Sound and Vision: Monumental Rock & Roll Photography.

Gered Mankowitz’s photographs are available through Govinda Gallery.

Govinda Girls Charlotte York Matthews and Susan Linton Martinovich in the back room of Govinda with Gered Mankowitz, 1995. Copyright ©Chris Murray. All Rights Reserved.

Sappho’s Song Copyright ©Donovan. All Rights Reserved.

Donovan is known throughout the world for his artistry as a singer, song writer, musician, and performer. Donovan is also an accomplished visual artist. His Sapphographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally. Inspired by the lyric poetry of Sappho (7th Century B.C.E.), Donovan captures in visual form the mythic beauty of this ancient artistic tradition. Donovan’s Sapphographs evoke the aesthetic sensuality of nature and the power of it’s rituals to inspire artistic creation.

Stars ’round the fair moon veil their own shining
when She’s full on the earth with the light of Her silver
Set you to rest on the softest of cushions
the black trance of night on our eyes like the river
“Be Mine,” from the album Sutras by Donovan, gathered from Sappho’s fragments

Donovan is recognized as one of the most popular and innovative recording artists of our time. By incorporating elements of folk, jazz, classical, Caribbean and Indian music, he became one of the central figures in the extraordinary musical and cultural revolution of the 1960s. He continues to influence and inspire musical artists today. Donovan’s recordings have received universal critical acclaim and he continues to perform throughout the world. His autobiography, Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man was published in 2005. Donovan was elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in December 2011.

“I am inspired by Greek Culture and especially the poetry of Sappho. My wish is to encourage the youth of the world, and bring poetry back to popular cultures where it belongs.”
Donovan

The first exhibition of Donovan’s Sapphographs was at Govinda Gallery in 2005. Donovan’s Sapphographs are available through Govinda Gallery.

October 2005

Poetry in Motion: Donovan Goes Greek for Govinda’s 30th

Georgetown’s Govinda Gallery celebrated 30 years on September 23 with a presentation of the first photo exhibition of musician and artist Donovan’s “Sapphographs.” The show can be seen through November 12. Over the years, some of the gallery’s highlights have included several exhibitions for Andy Warhol, with whom the gallery was closely associated, the first exhibition of Annie Leibovitz’s photographs, and a 20th Anniversary exhibition featuring photographs of Mohammed Ali by Howard Bingham.

This fall, Donovan celebrates his 40th anniversary as an entertainer. Along with this exhibition at Govinda Gallery, a career retrospective box set “Try for the Sun: The Journey of Donovan” and his autobiography, “The Hurdy Gurdy Man,” were released to mark this occasion. A prolific songwriter, poet, and musician, Donovan is recognized as one of the most popular and innovative recording artists of our time. Donovan sat down with Govinda Gallery owner Chris Murray to discuss the show and give us a little insight into his inspirations.

Chris Murray: What inspired you to create this visual tribute to ancient Greek poet Sappho?
Donovan: My interest in photography goes back to my father. When I was a boy in Glasgow, I used to watch him develop pictures in his darkroom. It was magic watching them come to life in the white China tray—as if by magic—so photography was always a love. While taking an art course some years ago, I took my Rolifex and started shooting ancient sights, like the Etruscan Ruins above Florence and Vesoli, and that got me going on my love of Theology again. One day I was in California and got to thinking about the Greek drama, so I put my daughter Oriel, her friend, and my wife in white face and white linen and I started to get into this Greek drama thing. I looked into the poems of Sappho and thought that I’d be great to do a series Cindy Sherman-style, where I take photographs of an imaginary Greek play.

CM: What qualities of ancient Greek mythology do you think are important today?
D: If it wasn’t for the Greeks, where would we be? The invention of the written word was not Greek, but they took it to a fine art and of course they invented Democracy. The speech to the Ephesians by Pericles and others, the ancient works really [established] how each member of the tribe in society should have a say, and stop tyranny and aristocratic rule, which always ends in bloodshed. We may not have gotten rid of the bloodshed, but without the Greeks, we wouldn’t have the systems we have. Greek art was extraordinary. The Renaissance benefitted from Greek culture, Michelangelo, Leonardo de Vinci and all modern artists have benefitted from Greek art. They taught us how to think, how to rule, how to party, and how to create art.

CM: In your album, “Sutras,” you do a beautiful song based on a fragment of the poet Sappho’s “Be Mine” and recently an unknown fragment of Sappho’s work has been uncovered. Is the fact that only fragments remain of Sappho’s poetry part of the allure for you?
D: Even the fragments are fascinating. There’s one complete poem and the rest are like fragments of sculpture. In fact, the latest finding, I believe, was found written on papyrus wrapped around an Egyptian mummy from the 3rd century B.C. But for me, putting parts of her poems together, like reconstructing it for the song “Be Mine,” was fascinating. The brand new fragment that was found may be another full poem but who knows? This poem is lamenting her growing old, although I don’t know who actually translated it. It was discovered last year by researchers at Cornell University that she laments aging. [Quote from poem] “My once tender body, old age now has seized, my hairs turn white instead of dark, my hearts grown heavy, my knees will not support me, that once on a time where fleets of the dances fawns, the state I oft bemoan but what to do, not to grow old? Being human, there’s no way.”

CM: Beautiful.
D: It is a fascinating piece and I will put it in music as well, maybe for my exhibit of Sapphographs coming up.

CM: I want to congratulate you on your extraordinary box set that Sony is releasing and your autobiography that are both just coming out now.
D: The Sapphographs may take precedence over both of those items, but the fact that they come out at the same time, is extraordinary. Sapphographs at Govinda Gallery is the first of what’s loosely called my 40th anniversary.