Dennis Stock

It seems strange that the first thing I've read about Dennis Stock is his obitury. When looking on the internet for some of his images I feel I already know him. I'm so familiar with some of them.

I'd seen his images of James Dean that Stock took of him before. The images were taken just before Dean died and became imortalised. There's still such a mystic around James Dean, would he have become the amazing actor that people had hoped for, or was it inevitable that Dean would meet an early end. His wild child lifestyle certainly would have had an impact. We'll never know, but these images I think add to the mystery around Dean. He comes across as a lonely soul and this images of him walking through Time Square in the pouring rain, he doesn't look approachable.

I guess because the rain is so heavy the background of the image looks like it could almost be a film set on a Hollywood lot. The foregroundreally draws my eye, particulary the reflection of Dean in the pool of water on the pavement.

The figure of James Dean looks to be striding towards the camera, hunching and hurrying to get out of the rain.

The black railings on the right hand side of the image also take my eye into the distance, but then immediately brought back by the figure of Dean, who seems larger than life amongst the buildings.