Sad news in the photography world this week. Photographer, innovator and inventor Peter Gowland passed away after suffering a broken hip earlier in the month.
I have been talking on this site for a long time about my exploration with the Gowlandflex, the ingenious 4×5 reflex camera Gowland designed and built. As well as being an inventor, Peter was an innovator in Glamour photography. In 2006 Double Exposure’s Lynne Eodice wrote about Peter and Alice:
For many years, Peter Gowland’s name has been synonymous with glamour photography. The son of an actor, Peter was born in Hollywood and became involved with the movie industry at an early age. After he decided that he preferred doing still photography to acting, he went on to photograph some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, interiors of beautiful Los Angeles homes, and numerous swimsuit models. As a photographer, he has over 1000 magazine covers, photographs in prestigious publications (including Playboy centerfolds) and 25 books to his credit.
Peter with his magazine covers
I’m sorry I never had a chance to meet Peter in person. Though he is gone there are about 800 Gowland cameras out in the world, some with the top photographers in the world (Annie Liebovitz, Yousuif Karsh, Phillipe Halsman, Dennis Manarchy, John Huet, Arthur Grace, David Raccuglia, Arthur Elgort, and Mark Laita). I think Peter and Alice would be happy to know that we are still using his cameras to make great images. If you’re shooting with a Gowlandflex, please send me links to your work. I think it would be a great tribute to him to create a gallery of images showing Gowland’s effect on photography.
Tags: gowland, Gowlandflex, Peter Gowland, Winokur Photography
