Written by Kenn Sava with Photographs by Kenn Sava & Robert Dunn
When I visited the Manhattan studio of the multi-dimensional Robert Dunn, I was struck by the large poster of The Beatles 1966 classic, Revolver, on his wall. Every Artist has influences. When I’m researching one, it’s always interesting to find out who their influences are, and what they reveal about that Artist’s work, their roots and development-if anything. I learned that Robert Dunn is an aficionado of Bob Dylan, classic Jazz, Blues, The Stones and The Beatles. Does it mean his work is influenced by them? That’s not for me to say. Still, Revolver is an album that shows off an extraordinarily wide range of The Beatles many sides. Hmmm….I asked him if I could snap a Photo of it.
Luckily, he didn’t ask me “Why?”
Robert’s Revolver poster (a copy of the rare original), hangs over a colorful selection of his business cards for Coral Press that feature his Photographs. Seen in his studio, February, 2019. Click any Photo for full size.
Like a six shooter, himself, Robert Dunn’s talent comes at you from all sides, in many media. In his life, thus far, he’s been or currently is-
-A Musician & Songwriter
-A published Author
-A copy editor at Sports Illustrated for 3 decades, and a typist at The New Yorker, who published one of his Poems(!)
-A Photographer
-A Publisher of PhotoBooks AND Novels
-A Teacher, currently of 2 courses at The New School
BANG!, indeed. Looking at the homepage for his site, RobertDunn.net, I felt like I was in a Department Store!
*Homepage of RobertDunn.net. Enough creativity for any 6 people, and there’s still room left for whatever he turns his talent to next!
Shot dead by too much talent to pack into one Post, I realized I needed to switch my brain from auto to manual to adjust the focus of this piece. So, I opted to narrow the depth of field for closeups on two of those 6 barrels- Robert Dunn: Photographer & Robert Dunn: PhotoBook Publisher. Before you think I’m letting myself off the hook easy, consider this- over the past year I’ve seen a number of Robert Dunn’s PhotoBooks, all of which are published by his own publishing company, Coral Press. Each contained work in a different style! I had to turn back to the cover to make sure the Artist’s name was Robert Dunn, and I was more and more impressed each time I found it was. The man is so positively bursting with creativity you literally need to keep your mind on a swivel to keep up with it.
Robert Dunn’s Author’s page on Amazon where you can buy his novels, many of which are music-related in some way, echoes of his days in his band, Thin Wild Mercury.
Approaching his long, varied and accomplished career from the present, it wasn’t long after I discovered his Photography that I found out he’s also a published Novelist with no fewer than SEVEN Novels currently available on Amazon! AND, in whatever spare time he doesn’t possibly have, he teaches Writing AND Writing the Photobook at The New School1.
I asked Robert to select a group of Photos for this piece as examples of his work in each of his many styles, thinking that together, they would show his range. Unbeknownst to him until he sees this, I was, also, testing a secret hunch I had, born out of that opening Photo. Shhhh….Don’t tell him this, Ok? Before I asked him for the Photographs I had a feeling that whatever images he sent me would connect with The Beatles’ album Revolver.
(Off stage, background. Chime…chime…incoming email chime…”CANCEL MY EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION! I now KNOW you’re certifiable!”) I didn’t know exactly how. I just had a hunch they would. He sent me the batch of Photos you see below. There was no back and forth. No second guessing. And of course, no discussion about “matching” Photo with Song. The rhyme and reasons are purely my own- The blame lies here. I want to emphasize- At no time has Robert told me Revolver had anything to do with his work!
Why did I come up with this crazy concept?
As my long time readers know, every single one of the 200+ Posts I’ve done here on NHNYC.com over the 3 1/2 years of its existence has had its own soundtrack listed at the end- a piece of Music I’ve selected to accompany it, and that seems to fit that particular Post. Never have I selected more than one piece of Music to be the soundtrack of a Post. Until now. Robert’s multiple sides, and countless styles, call for it.
So, here are the Photos Mr. Dunn sent, with a caption listing which of the 34 PhotoBooks the Artist has released to date it appears in, along with a song from Revolver as its soundtrack. I’ve also included a link to the book the Photo appears in on the Coral Press site where you can see more of its contents. Each and every one of his books is well worth exploring. Every one of the 14 songs on The Beatles’ album is here and only appears once. The Beatles video for the track follows each Photo so you can listen to it as you look (all are audio only, except for “Yellow Submarine”). Robert may see this and say “What the heck?” and never speak to me again. I hope not, but here goes!
Please take the time to listen to each track while you look at Robert’s Photo it accompanies and see if you find a connection. (Lyrics for each song may be found here.)
From OWS, Robert Dunn’s very first PhotoBook on the Occupy Wall Street protest. Fittingly, it gets “Taxman,” the first track on Revolver.
Also from OWS. Its soundtrack is “I’m Only Sleeping”
From New York Street. Its soundtrack is “Tomorrow Never Knows”
From Shibuya Time. Its soundtrack is “Love You To”
From Shibuya Time. Its soundtrack is “She Said She Said”
From Angel Parade 5. Its soundtrack is “For No One”
From New York Street. Its soundtrack is “Yellow Submarine”
From Carnival of Souls. Its soundtrack is”Good Day Sunshine”
From Star of Light. Its soundtrack is “Got to Get You into My Life.”
From Star of Light. Its soundtrack is”Eleanor Rigby”
From All That Is Solid Melts Into Air. (To be published) Its soundtrack is “Dr. Robert”
From New York Street. Its soundtrack is “And Your Bird Can Sing”
From Electrick Spirits. Its soundtrack is “I Want to Tell You”
From Electrick Spirits. Its soundtrack is “Here, There and Everywhere”
Ok…ok…So? Why did I REALLY do this- match up Revolver with these Robert Dunn Photographs? When I look at Robert Dunn’s work and the range of styles he has created in thus far, I see an Artist who’s constantly exploring and reinventing himself, like The Beatles did (as you can hear in a micocosm on Revolver)– even if it takes venturing into an entirely new medium or Artform for him to do so! I find that exciting and, personally, inspiring. And? There aren’t a heck of a lot of other popular Musicians who have as many styles as Bob does- except The Beatles.
Robert Dunn, ALSO, a serious vinyl collector, considers a classic Blues Lp at NYC’s legendary Academy Records, February 16, 2019.
When I lived in Miami, the old cliche was, “If you don’t like the weather, wait 20 minutes. It’ll change.” Robert Dunn’s work only seems to change that often. But, somehow, no matter how much it changes, the “Sunshine” of his creativity always shines through, making it a “Good Day…”
The Photography of Robert Dunn may be explored in full at ecstaticlightphoto.com.
I’ve had my say, so now, it’s only fair to give the Artist a chance. I’m pleased to say that Robert was kind enough to answer some questions for me. These appear in the piece, Tomorrow Never Knows: Q&A With Robert Dunn, below this one.
My thanks to Robert Dunn, and to Jackson Charles for the introduction.
BookMarks-
A used box set of Robert’s Angel Parade series for sale at The Strand in 2018. Its prior owner looks to have perused it a fair amount. The next time I looked, it was gone, off to a new home. My experience is they don’t last long in stores, but you can still buy them online.
Robert Dunn’s PhotoBooks are available as follows-
-By mail order, or in store, at Dashwood Books.
-By mail order, or in store, at Printed Matter.
or
–Directly by mail order from Coral Press.
If you have any questions about obtaining them, feel free to write to Coral Press directly, or contact me and I will forward them for you.
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Written & photographed by Kenn Sava for nighthawknyc.com unless otherwise credited.
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- During the course of working on this piece, Professor Robert asked me why I capitalize Art, Music, and Photographer. I’ve been expecting this question every day since July, 2015, but he is the first person to ask! The short answer is, as I’ve mentioned in passing previously, that Art is my Religion. Many people create “art.” A select few create “Art.” For me, the work of someone like Michelangelo, and the other Artists I’ve written about here, deserves the respect of capitalization. Frankly? I don’t understand why it is not the norm. He then asked why I write photobook as PhotoBook, etc. The answer is- They’re part of my eccentric style, (like NoteWorthy or BookMarks). For me, a “photobook” like Robert Frank’s The Americans, also, deserves to be referred to differently than a book of photos (i.e. a “photobook”) of snapshots. I’ll get into this more in a future Post. But since among his many talents and extensive accomplishments, Mr. Dunn has 30 years experience as a Copy Editor at Sports Illustrated, I thought I’d better give the short answer now! We both agreed that consistency is key. I’ve been doing it this way since Day 1 of NHNYC. ↩