In the Beginning

This new blog is brought to you by Thomas Marino, the director of the documentary “Joel-Peter Witkin: An Objective Eye”.  The ideal goal behind this blog is to give the fans and viewers of the film an inside look into the making of this documentary.

It is only proper for me to start this off by going back to the beginning, back to 1996 when I first came across the work of Joel-Peter Witkin.  This is where it all started.

I was 16 years old, living in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California, and trying to hold down my first job at the local public library.  It was a quiet night, with not many patrons in the library when I started perusing the Art & Photography section, and I came across a large hardcover book, simply titled “WITKIN”.  On the cover of the book was a black and white photo of a woman sitting naked, wearing only gloves, and cradling a small dead dog in her hands.  The woman’s hair was long, parted out into seven different points, and with each one of them tied to the wall behind her.  Her face was hidden behind a mask of another woman, made out of what appeared to be a paper collage in the shape of a large T, which hung down to her abdomen.  Upon seeing this image I was instantly curious as to what this book was, and what it may contain inside.  So I began my exploration.  Little did I know my life and perceptions of beauty were about to be transformed right before my eyes. 

As it turns out, the book was a collection photographs from the artist, Joel-Peter Witkin.  It was a retrospect of his life’s work in photography for the first 20 years of his career.  Along with over 100 photographs from Witkin, there was also a brief biography written by Germano Celant, and an essay written by Witkin himself.

When I opened the book I couldn’t help but stare.  Losing all sense of my surroundings, I stared at each image the way a child stares at a magician as he pulls the rabbit from the hat.  An overwhelming feeling of wonder and bewilderment swept over me, and I was completely fascinated by what I was seeing.  Never before had I been privy to an artist who could be so brave and uncompromising in their craft.  His graceful way of photographing corpses, dismembered body parts, transsexuals, circus freaks, dwarfs, and dead animals left me with an urge to learn more about who this artist was.  I spent the next two hours pouring over every picture.  With every turn of the page I found myself strangely drawn into this whole new world, and I wanted to share my new discovery with everyone I knew.  However, not everyone I shared this book with would feel the same enthusiasm I had.  Most of them simply brushed off the images as grotesque and morbid, with no intention of giving the artist the credit he deserved, and no desire to learn more about him.  I quickly realized Witkin’s work is not for everyone, and from that moment on I began my journey of self-discovery.

Cut to 13 years later.  I had spent most my young adult life traveling and living throughout the United States, and later found myself returning home to the San Fernando Valley for family medical reasons.  I had little possessions upon my arrival back to California, as most of my stuff sat in storage in Colorado, including my Witkin book.  Months had passed as I tended to the needs of my family, and Joel-Peter Witkin was the farthest thing from my mind, until one night when I had a dream…

Stay tuned for the next installment… "I Had a Dream." 

Please subscribe to this blog to follow along on this journey of making "Joel-Peter Witkin: An Objective Eye".

-Thomas Marino