Elvis And Photographer William Speer (1955)
In the 1950s, William Speer ran a photography studio in Memphis. His specialty was glamorous black and white photography, featuring a variety of light and shadows.
In his photographs, Speer tended to avoid, whenever possible, photographing people with happy faces. Interestingly, he said: “I don’t usually take photographs of smiling people. If you’re looking at a person with a smile, all you see is a smile. The smile kills everything. The real image is in the eyes.”
In July 1955, Elvis arrived at his studio, sent by his manager, Bob Neal, to have some photographs taken for promotional purposes. This session produced 11 portraits, which could be considered the third series of publicity photos of a young and beautiful Elvis.
One of these photos became the most reproduced Elvis photograph of all time. It was dubbed the “Crossed Hands Photo.”
The “Photo of the Crossed Hands” can also be seen framed and hanging on the wall of the living room of his house at 1034 Audubon Drive, in many of the snapshots that would be taken of what would become his new home.
Shortly after these Elvis photo sessions, Gladys and Vernon also visited Speer, who took several photos of them. It’s notable that Gladys, who rarely smiled, appeared very smiling in these photos. Perhaps this means that, seeing her intense sadness, Speer chose to capture her in a state of happiness, although that’s not what he usually did in his work… A nice gesture, no doubt.
After this session, Elvis returned to Speer’s studio. The purpose of this visit was to take some portraits of his girlfriend at the time, Barbara Hearn. It was during this encounter that Speer apparently offended Elvis.
According to Speer himself, while he was concentrating on taking photos of Barbara, Elvis was in the next room, singing. Then Speer said to him, “Stop that racket, I’m trying to photograph Barbara!” Apparently, according to Speer, Elvis was upset that he told him to be quiet, and after that incident, they never saw each other again.
And that was the end of a relationship that could have been very fruitful, both personally and professionally. What a shame…
In any case, a collection of photos for eternity.
Article written and provided by Rosa García Mora. https://www.facebook.com/rosa.garciamora.12
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