CLARENCE
JOHN LAUGHLIN An
Artist With A Camera
The
origin of the film:
Michael
Murphy was born and raised in New Orleans, a city whose citizens are known
for their “love of life”. It also a city known for providing
writers & artists with the bohemian freedom to express themselves,
letting their imaginations flourish in the seductive French Quarter. Both
of Michael's parent's loved the “Quarter”, strolling there
on the weekends with children in tow. It was here, during these visits
to the Quarter, that Michael would meet artists in Jackson Square, visit
art galleries, and meet a cast of eccentric characters that his parents
so loved. In the late '60s, Michael's older brother, Owen, embarked on
a professional career as a photographer. Through Owen, Michael met Clarence
at a show in the French Quarter. Michael quickly learned that Clarence
was the eccentric, brusque, elder statesmen to many of the artistic flower
children of the era that had congregated in the French Quarter, as well
as a mentor to Owen. Michael never forgot that first chance meeting with
the man who created one of the most significant bodies of photographic
work in American history. Fifteen years later, Michael approached his college
professor, Michael Frierson, and asked him to work with him to make this
film.
It took another 20 years to complete. The film is a labor of love,. which is often the story for independent filmmakers. During the journey into Laughlin's life and work, we kept reaching new levels of appreciation for a man who, for much of his adult life, chose to isolate himself from family & friends in pursuit of his art. He was a southern artist. He was a pioneer. He was one of the earliest photographers to champion architectural preservation, and certain critics also consider him to be the first American surrealist. His legacy is a remarkable body of work that is a testament to an artist who relentlessly drove himself to achieve his dreams. His photography, like the man, is considered to be elusive, nostalgic, romantic. We are continually amazed at the breadth and depth of the work, at the changes that Laughlin witnessed in the American South during his lifetime, and how Laughlin stubbornly muddled through in a period before photography was widely regarded as an art form. If you look at these images closely enough, you will begin to understand something about what it means to be a Southern artist. And that is what made his life and work so rich and a story that needed to be told.