Focus on wrestling: the real deal
Theo Ehret interviewed by Cameron Jamie
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
C.J.: "How old were you when you started to develop an interest in photography?"
T.E.: "An uncle of mine had a camera shop; he was a photographer and I helped him. I was around fifteen or sixteen years old. He kept the shop until after the war, and I finally got hold of a camera. You had to be in some kind of photo business to get one."
C.J.: "What did you take pictures of?"
T.E.: "People, buildings, anything of interest."
C.J.: "Did you shoot pictures during the war?"
T.E.: "I took snapshots of all the guys in the Navy, wherever we went. I shot some combat scenes. I was able to get some film from the Navy even though they were very tight about it. Unfortunately, all those negatives were confiscated in prison camp. The only pictures I had left were the ones I sent home during the war."
C.J.: "So what happened after the war, did you continue to take pictures?"
T.E.: "Well, not at first because after the war there were no cameras available. Almost everything was destroyed after the war, so everyone had to start from scratch. Some people had stuff hidden that you could buy. I started working jobs here and there to make a little money. In '48 or '49 I found a Retina and shot a lot of pictures of my kid. Then I really started to get more involved in taking pictures again, and in 1951 my aunt bought me a Contax 380. It's the camera I took all my pictures with coming overseas."
C.J.: "When did you come to the U. S.?"
T.E.: "In late 1952, I knew a lot of big wheels in the army since I was stationed with the headquarters in Nuremberg. They all knew me and thought I should move to the United States. One German guy I knew talked me into it; he was already in the U. S. and asked me to put in an application. I thought it would take three to six years to get an answer, but six weeks later I got the answer that they had accepted me. I turned them down because I was not sure. I had just married my wife and we had just got an apartment. We had gone through so much paperwork just to get a place in Germany. But I finally asked my wife, 'Do you want to go to America?' and she said, 'Sure'."
C.J.: "Were there any photographers that you liked?"
T.E.: "I liked Stieglitz, Haas, a few others I can't remember. I liked the style of photography that I saw in books, and I subscribed to quite a few photography magazines."
C.J.: "Did you ever photograph female nudes at the time?"
T.E.: "I did, but I wasn't too interested in it. I had to do it for school. They wanted to see what you could do with the body as a photo exercise. I wasn't too enthused by it. There was no interest. But I would shoot some portraits. I was never hopped-up about that cheesy stuff."
C.J.: "What was your first commercial work?"
T.E.: "I worked for a PR agency who hired me to shoot whatever came about. He was an agent whom people would approach and say, 'We need pictures of these people, we need pictures of these buildings, or the operating room in a hospital, or the interior of this room.' You had to be a jack of all trades to shoot. By then I could shoot anything, in any situation. During that time, I photographed newly built modern buildings and homes in Los Angeles."
C.J.: "Then you set up your own photo studio?"
T.E.: "1963 was when I opened my studio on Sunset Boulevard. The first work that came around was at the Olympic Auditorium. They needed a photographer to shoot publicity stills. I was desperate and went down to try it out. They thought my photos were very good, so I was hired to shoot boxers."
C.J.: "By 'publicity' do you mean portraits of the boxers?"
T.E.: "Yes, 'mugshots.' (laughs) That's what we called them because they were done so quickly. I would arrive at the gym and they would say, 'Take a mug of this mug, with that mug.' (laughs) Half the time I had no idea who these boxers were."
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
C.J.: "How old were you when you started to develop an interest in photography?"
T.E.: "An uncle of mine had a camera shop; he was a photographer and I helped him. I was around fifteen or sixteen years old. He kept the shop until after the war, and I finally got hold of a camera. You had to be in some kind of photo business to get one."
C.J.: "What did you take pictures of?"
T.E.: "People, buildings, anything of interest."
C.J.: "Did you shoot pictures during the war?"
T.E.: "I took snapshots of all the guys in the Navy, wherever we went. I shot some combat scenes. I was able to get some film from the Navy even though they were very tight about it. Unfortunately, all those negatives were confiscated in prison camp. The only pictures I had left were the ones I sent home during the war."
C.J.: "So what happened after the war, did you continue to take pictures?"
T.E.: "Well, not at first because after the war there were no cameras available. Almost everything was destroyed after the war, so everyone had to start from scratch. Some people had stuff hidden that you could buy. I started working jobs here and there to make a little money. In '48 or '49 I found a Retina and shot a lot of pictures of my kid. Then I really started to get more involved in taking pictures again, and in 1951 my aunt bought me a Contax 380. It's the camera I took all my pictures with coming overseas."
C.J.: "When did you come to the U. S.?"
T.E.: "In late 1952, I knew a lot of big wheels in the army since I was stationed with the headquarters in Nuremberg. They all knew me and thought I should move to the United States. One German guy I knew talked me into it; he was already in the U. S. and asked me to put in an application. I thought it would take three to six years to get an answer, but six weeks later I got the answer that they had accepted me. I turned them down because I was not sure. I had just married my wife and we had just got an apartment. We had gone through so much paperwork just to get a place in Germany. But I finally asked my wife, 'Do you want to go to America?' and she said, 'Sure'."
C.J.: "Were there any photographers that you liked?"
T.E.: "I liked Stieglitz, Haas, a few others I can't remember. I liked the style of photography that I saw in books, and I subscribed to quite a few photography magazines."
C.J.: "Did you ever photograph female nudes at the time?"
T.E.: "I did, but I wasn't too interested in it. I had to do it for school. They wanted to see what you could do with the body as a photo exercise. I wasn't too enthused by it. There was no interest. But I would shoot some portraits. I was never hopped-up about that cheesy stuff."
C.J.: "What was your first commercial work?"
T.E.: "I worked for a PR agency who hired me to shoot whatever came about. He was an agent whom people would approach and say, 'We need pictures of these people, we need pictures of these buildings, or the operating room in a hospital, or the interior of this room.' You had to be a jack of all trades to shoot. By then I could shoot anything, in any situation. During that time, I photographed newly built modern buildings and homes in Los Angeles."
C.J.: "Then you set up your own photo studio?"
T.E.: "1963 was when I opened my studio on Sunset Boulevard. The first work that came around was at the Olympic Auditorium. They needed a photographer to shoot publicity stills. I was desperate and went down to try it out. They thought my photos were very good, so I was hired to shoot boxers."
C.J.: "By 'publicity' do you mean portraits of the boxers?"
T.E.: "Yes, 'mugshots.' (laughs) That's what we called them because they were done so quickly. I would arrive at the gym and they would say, 'Take a mug of this mug, with that mug.' (laughs) Half the time I had no idea who these boxers were."
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Theo Ehret
