Volume 9–3 (Low Res).pdf

24
A souvenir of an overcast day in Vienna,
1967. The light was so low, Nathan had
to use high speed daylight Ektachrome
film to get this shot.
This S had double appeal for Simon.
Not only does he collect letters, but also
stars, arrows and other design symbols.
This star-studded S was photographed
in New York City, 1970.
A truly unique item in Simons collection—
a photo whose origin eludes him, although
it is definitely New York City and of
1967/68 vintage.
The S of the familiar-looking stencilled
"STOP"signs takes on new significance
when photographed by itself. New York
City, 1970
IMON NATHAN'S
LETTERGRAPHS
Well, how did it all start
—Simon Nathan travel-
ing around the world
with a sophisticated
camera, shooting pictures
of B's and F's and M's instead of bridges
and fountains and mountains?
He claims that his fixation on the
alphabet started in his first year of
school,when he learned the 26 letters
that were the key to words, to sentences,
to conversation and to friends.
His fascination with letterforms goes
back that far. He never learned to write
longhand, but remains permanently
addicted to printed characters. (Will
the Keith Country Day School of
Rockford, Illinois, take credit for this
phenomenon, or will they rescind
his diploma?)
Be that as it may, it was back in
1956 that Nathan started to save an
occasional letterform that appealed to
him for its own beauty or for the way
it was designed. In 1964, on a visit to
Zurich, he took his first photographs
of letters he admired on street signs,
billboards and such. But it really
wasn't until 1966 that he started to
roll—literally, roll after roll of film
through his Nikkormat with its 55mm
f.3.5 Micro-Nikkor lens.
Since then he has accumulated a
library of over 11,000 letters. As it
turns out, Simon's lettergraphs are not
just esthetic delights and souvenirs
for himself, in many cases they offer
historic documentation of places, times
and conditions.The Underground
Gallery in New York City has exhibited
a fraction of his collection. The Type
Directors Club of New York was privy
to a presentation of 8 carousels (about
600 slides) of his letters, which, presented
in sequence, spelled out a message
predicting the end of the world.
(His art is not without practical
applications.)
Our limited space inhibits
Mr. Nathan from spelling out various
messages for our benefit. From his
voluminous portfolio, we have merely
selected a series of "S" pictures,
photographed in assorted locations
throughout the world. We thought the
"S" was a splendidly suitable sample
for showing the sensitive and sophisticated
sensibility of someone named
Simon. MARION MULLER
While on location in Salt Lake City, Utah,
working on a movie for United Artists,
Simon shot this S off the side of a farm
panel truck. 1967
A white neon S from the word "casino"
photographed, appropriately, in Las
Vegas, Nevada, c. 1970.