Edmund died last year and was one of the last of dying breed of eccentric
old masters. He never let an hour go by that he didn't express his undying
dislike for Beaumont and Nancy Newhall, whom he felt had derailed his
career because his work was not "straight." He also suspected that he was
derailed because he wasn't straight as well.
About 6 or 7 years ago he was shot in an apparent drive-by shooting. he was
inside and the bullet went in one cheek and out the other taking some teeth
with it. In typical Teske fashion he blamed his landlord for shooting at
him for not paying his rent.
He was a striking man with a long mane of white hair and the temperament of
a two year old stallion. He was a little ahead of his time and was the
first man whom I got to know on a close-up basis who was openly gay and
proud of it. I learned that photography didn't have to be "straight" either.
Curators found Edmund impossible to work with. He once went into a rage an
hour before the opening of his restrospective show at Barnsdall Park in LA
in the early 70's. (He was a member of Taliesan, and mentored with F.L.
Wright and lived at Studio B of the Hollyhock House under the support of
Aline Barndall for many years.) His rant was the prints were hung too low
and he wanted them moved up. The prints were low due to the new way of
hanging to aid the handicapped in seeing them.
Edmund called his process "duotone." I think Susan Rankitis also uses a
similar method and may have come upon it through Teske since she got her
MFA at UCLA under Bob Heinekin, and Bob was Teske's support person. I
recall talking to her years ago and I seem to remember a nodding agreement
to Teske's process, or at least that was a starting point for her process.
Teske was fond of using an Ansco paper the name of which escapes me,
Vari-something, but not a multigrade paper. He printed soft and deep. The
print came up quickly in the developer and just about the point where your
instinct would say to pull it (and of course it would be a trasher anyway)
he would throw it up on a slanting board in his sink and grab a 300 watt
photoflood and hold it over the print at about a foot. He might also dash
more developer over the print. The solarization (Sabattier really) was
slight but the staining was pretty incredible. I've always wondered about
the permanence of his prints. I own a couple.
Two minute sound bite over...
--Dick Sullivan
Bostick & Sullivan
PO Box 16639, Santa Fe
NM 87506
505-474-0890 FAX 505-474-2857
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