David Spielman
Encyclopedia
Early life
He was born in Tulsa, OklahomaOklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, graduated from Tulsa Central High School. He attended Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri
Fulton, Missouri
Fulton is a city in Callaway County, Missouri, the United States of America. It is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 12,790 in the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Callaway County...
, and graduated in 1972.
Spielman first became interested in photography at the age of 15, while still in high school. While at Westminster College, Spielman covered the dedication of the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library
Winston Churchill Memorial and Library
The Winston Churchill Memorial, located on the Westminster College campus in Fulton, Missouri, United States, commemorates the life and times of Sir Winston Churchill. In 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Sinews of Peace" address in the Westminster historic gymnasium...
, a Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
Church. It had been bombed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was being reconstructed on the Westminster campus in honor of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
’s 1946 speech in which he coined the phrase iron curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
.
Most of Spielman's senior year was spent in Europe studying art history in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. He credits this experience with helping and guiding him in the composition and design of all his work.
Photography career
Spielman's work has been featured in five books. His images have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, including The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, New York Times, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Time Magazine, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, and Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
.
Southern Writers has 72 portraits of Southern authors. Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty
Eudora Alice Welty was an American author of short stories and novels about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous awards. She was the first living author to have her works published...
, Pat Conroy
Pat Conroy
Pat Conroy , is a New York Times bestselling author who has written several acclaimed novels and memoirs. Two of his novels, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, were made into Oscar-nominated films.-Early life:...
, and James Dickey
James Dickey
James Lafayette Dickey was an American poet and novelist. He was appointed the eighteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1966.-Early years:...
are a few of the authors Spielman shot for the book. Most of the images were shot in the writer’s work spaces, a technique designed to provide a glimpse into the private lives of the authors and the creative processes of their work.
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. His photographs capture the devastation of different neighborhoods and the total destruction of New Orleans. The book features a first-person perspective of Katrina, including Spielman's personal e-mails that were dispatched during the aftermath of the storm. The Times Picayune said, "Spielman had to dodge checkpoints and authority while capturing Katrina’s devastation. A student of Walker Evans
Walker Evans
Walker Evans was an American photographer best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans's work from the FSA period uses the large-format, 8x10-inch camera...
, Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. He was an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography...
and Robert Frank
Robert Frank
Robert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American...
, he drew upon their experiences to stay under the radar."
Spielman's photography is featured in Arnaud's
Arnaud's
Arnaud's is a well known restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Along with Galatoire's, Antoine's, and Broussard's, Arnaud's is one of the four classic Creole New Orleans restaurants....
Restaurant Cookbook by Kit Wohl
Kit Wohl
Kit Wohl is a prolific cookbook author, photographer, graphics designer and artist. She also has worked with chefs, restaurants and hotels across the United States as the CEO of Wohl & Company, a New Orleans-based advertising, public relations and marketing firm...
, as well as in Dickie Brennan's
Brennan's
Brennan's is a creole restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is known for its lavish breakfast and for the creation of Bananas Foster.-History:...
Palace Café Cookbook.
Gallery and museum showcases
Spielman's work has been collected in the United States and throughout Europe and Asia. Spielman donated 34 of his pieces from his Southern Writers book project to The Ogden Museum of Southern ArtOgden Museum of Southern Art
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is located in New Orleans, within the Central Business District adjacent to Lee Circle. It is associated with the University of New Orleans...
in New Orleans.
Spielman lives in New Orleans; his gallery and darkroom are located in the Garden District
Garden District, New Orleans
The Garden District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St. Charles Avenue to the north, 1st Street to the east, Magazine Street to the south and Toledano Street to the...
in a century-old skating rink. He sells his personal work and the books that have been published. Spielman travels and lectures about his photographic experiences and books.
Publications
- Katrinaville Chronicles, published by LSU Press 2007
- Arnaud's Restaurant Cookbook published by Pelican Publishing CompanyPelican Publishing CompanyPelican Publishing Company is a book publisher based in Gretna, a suburb of New Orleans. It was formed in 1926 and in its time has produced 1500 titles, most of which relate to Louisiana and Southern culture, cuisine, and history...
2005 - Dickie Brennan's Palace Café Cook Book, published 2002
- Southern Writers, published by South Carolina Press 1997
External links
- Website: DavidSpielman.com