It’s not often I see a single image that drives me to seek out and meet the creator behind it.
But such was the case with this extraordinary image. It immediately struck me as one of the most romantic, tender, mysterious, almost “film noir” images I had ever seen. Brassai, eat your heart out. How come I had never heard of its maker? Then I remembered a good photo-publishing colleague had mentioned his name to me a few years back. I must have been rushing from one art fair to another and I had never followed up. Shame on me. I guess things sometimes slip through the cracks. But I believe in fate and that when things are meant to be, they are meant to be.
Well, off I finally went to San Francisco to meet Lyon in his studio and I soon realised I had entered an Aladdin’s Cave. I think he was just a spring chicken of 85 at the time, but his enthusiasm and energy were contagious. That’s not to mention his intelligence, wit and charm. Wow, I thought; he was Cary Grant with a camera! But it was the quality of his work that bowled me over. Great image after great image evoking a lost era of style and sophistication, heart and beauty that is unlikely to come back. And that special San Francisco light. No one has an archive of such superb work inspired by this unique city. Fred Lyon was not just a humble, truly great and important photographer but a very special, one-of-a-kind, gracious human being. A rare breed.