lton John’s face beamed like a vision from a projection screen above <strong>the</strong> crowded ballroom. It was early October, and <strong>Greg</strong> <strong>Gorman</strong> was receiving <strong>the</strong> Lucie <strong>Award</strong> for <strong>Achievement</strong> in Portraiture at <strong>the</strong> Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. “You are a great photographer,” John told <strong>Gorman</strong> in his video address, his voice booming over loudspeakers. “Of all <strong>the</strong> photographers I’ve known, I’m closest to you because we’ve been friends so long. I’ve had <strong>the</strong> pleasure <strong>of</strong> having my picture taken by you many times. When we had our son Zachary and [wanted] pictures taken, you were <strong>the</strong> only one I could think <strong>of</strong> to do it, and you came up trumps yet again. I love you very much.” Pierce Brosnan appeared in an equally heartfelt video. He recounted <strong>the</strong> day he met <strong>Gorman</strong> when <strong>the</strong> photographer traveled to <strong>the</strong> actor’s Malibu, Calif., home in <strong>the</strong> mid- 1990s. “I’d heard about <strong>Greg</strong> <strong>Gorman</strong> and seen his photographs in Rolling Stone,” said Brosnan. “I’d seen <strong>the</strong> great pan<strong>the</strong>on <strong>of</strong> players he had photographed and was blown away that he was coming to <strong>the</strong> house.” It was a day Brosnan would never forget, <strong>the</strong> actor said, because not only was he having his photograph taken by one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most celebrated portrait photographers in <strong>the</strong> world, but he had just learned he had landed <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> James Bond in “GoldenEye.” After <strong>the</strong> photo session, <strong>the</strong> two celebrated over wine and became good friends. Celebrities, wine, and friendships have been <strong>the</strong> core <strong>of</strong> <strong>Gorman</strong>’s life for more than four decades. This month he will be feted again for his nonpareil body <strong>of</strong> portraiture and fine-art work when he accepts <strong>the</strong> <strong>PPA</strong> <strong>Lifetime</strong> <strong>Achievement</strong> <strong>Award</strong> at Imaging USA in Atlanta. “I guess people are recognizing my mortality before I do,” says <strong>Gorman</strong>, 63, chuckling over <strong>the</strong> phone from his Los Angeles home. “Maybe <strong>the</strong>y Photographer <strong>Greg</strong> <strong>Gorman</strong>, know something I don’t.” <strong>2013</strong> <strong>PPA</strong> <strong>Lifetime</strong> Or maybe it’s just <strong>the</strong> passage <strong>of</strong> <strong>Achievement</strong> <strong>Award</strong> <strong>winner</strong> time. For decades <strong>Gorman</strong>’s photog - raphy has appeared in magazines, advertisements, and movie posters. A touring retrospec- portraiture and fine art. A book <strong>of</strong> his street shows <strong>the</strong> breadth <strong>of</strong> his work that includes tive, “<strong>Greg</strong> <strong>Gorman</strong>: Distinct Vision 1970- photography, due to be published later this 2010,” which began in Los Angeles in 2010 year, shows <strong>Gorman</strong> has not lost his affinity and continues in Europe, <strong>the</strong> Middle East, for photojournalism, which in part is what and Asia, including Russia and Siberia, took him to Los Angeles in <strong>the</strong> first place. ©Andreas Bitesnich January <strong>2013</strong> • Pr<strong>of</strong>essional Photographer • 87
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