Portrait Photographs, Ira Cohen

shot in New York, India and Nepal from the 1960s, 70s and 80s

From top to bottom: Deirdre Lovell, Allen Ginsberg (bandaged poet,) Ira Cohen (self portrait,) Irving Rosenthal, Julian Beck, Miriam with Violin, Petra in Katmandu, Uri Hertz (bandaged poet,) Petra Vogt (mutant,) anonymous Nepali street boy 

I once made the mistake of asking Irving what he thought of Ira’s photos from the mylar chamber.  He quickly dismissed them as the result of a gimmick: pseudo art, plain and simple.  However, he said that Ira’s other photographs were often excellent, even great.  I haven’t let my friend’s bad opinion dim my enthusiasm for Ira’s more famous work, but I also admire these portraits and I’m glad that Irving is among those pictured.