Land of Oz

kids and adults

I'm not one for eulogies and such, but this week two guys who I've had a lot of respect for have died. In many ways these two guys are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. One is Captain Kangaroo and the other is Helmut Newton. For those of you who aren't familiar with these two guys, one was involved in kid's entertainment and the other in adult's entertainment. My memories of both are the grays of black and white photography. For one it was the grainy black and white pictures on an old television as the Captain and Mr. Green Sleeves wandered around their set interacting with various puppets and cartoons. For the other it was the stark sharp black and white photos of stern faced, magnificently figured women, usually in naught but heels and an attitude.

My memories of the Captain need a little google help these days. Forty-year old childhood memories of Tom Terrific and Bunny Rabbit come to mind. Compare those to today's animatronic/cgi developed equivalents of Yoda and Nemo. The visual qualities are so much better, but is the content any better? Mostly I remember a kindly old gent wearing a coat of big pockets (hence the kangaroo) with simple cartoons in a simple day. Rest easy Captain.

What Helmut brings to mind is something else altogether. Childhood is left far behind and stark black and white images of imperious women are still freshly remembered. His series of Lisa Lyon contains some of the best woman bodybuilder photographs ever taken. What fantasies his photos bring forth.

I can't help but wonder when these two meet up in whatever afterlife there may be what they might think of each other.

2fers: Helmut Newton and Captain Kangaroo