The Photographer - An Artist's Support

Hans Namuth was an influential photographer, most famous for his pictures of Jackson Pollock at

work. These portraits did as much for Pollock as they did for Namuth, singlehandedly changing the

public’s perception of the abstract artist from a messy, talentless loner to a methodic artistic genius.

Hans Namuth was born in Germany in 1915. When he was 16, his father joined the Nazi party. This

pushed his son’s liberal views into action, and, when he was 18, he was jailed for distributing Anti

Nazi materials. His father intervened, and sent him to Paris so he didn’t get in any more trouble.

While taking odd jobs like newspaper boy and dishwasher, he met other exiled Germans, most

notably photographer George Reisner. In 1935, Reisner invited the then 20 year old Namuth to

photography. The two worked to support themselves with photojournalism and portraits until they

were caught on the frontlines of the Spanish Civil War, where they photographed the war. To avoid

being interned as a German in France, he fled to the US. His plans included “doing something about

everything.” After being drafted into World War Two, he worked as an interrogator in England,

France, and Czechoslovakia.

He briefly had to return to Germany during the war, and felt as though he didn’t feel at home there

anymore. This was a big realization for him, and the main reason he stopped identifying as a

German.

He returned home determined to support his family, but keep up photography as a hobby. However,

when his company went bankrupt, he turned to photography full time, transforming his kitchen into a

darkroom.

Both Pollock and Namuth got most of their fame from the other, but they were initially not too keen

on working together. Hans was not originally interested in the drip painter’s work, and Pollock, more

of a lone wolf, didn’t like the idea on having someone else in his studio. Pollock agreed, however,

mostly due to his wife, who knew the importance of media coverage.

Before the pair started working together, people saw Pollock as methodless and crazy. They didn’t

see how his work could be art, as a two year old could’ve made it. Namuth’s photographs

demystified the artist, and showed that he had method to his work. He turned from the cranky loner

to the posterboy of Abstract Expressionism, with a cigarette between his teeth, working in jeans.

The two created a documentary where Namuth filmed from underneath a glass pane while Pollock

painted over it. They couldn’t afford professional lighting, and did it in Pollock’s front yard. The film

has become one of the most influential in Art History.

After finishing a shoot, Pollock, who’d been treated for alcoholism and promised he was sober,

poured himself a drink. Namuth got angry at the artist. Pollock, who treated any blow to his character

as worse than murder, called Namuth a “phony.” Hans, not willing to take this lying down, shouted

back that Pollock wasn’t a “real artist.” This ended in flipping tables and throwing utensils, and was

also the end of their professional, and personal, relationship. The two never made up.

Namuth’s influence can be seen in Pollock’s later works. Art critics agree that he had more figure

based style, and the rabid spontaneity had been toned down.

After Pollock’s death in 1956, many publications used Namuth’s pictures of Pollock’s work rather

than the works themselves.

Namuth went on to photograph other artists and people, but none compared to the work he did with .

Jackson Pollock. He died in a car crash in 1990 at the age of 75.

Today, his pictures are still used to demonstrate the tumultuous method of abstract expressionism,

but he is largely unnoticed. Even though he launched the public’s approval of Jackson Pollock, it

turned out to be a thankless job. Neither would be anything without the other, and yet they didn’t

finish it together.