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|---|---|
| Born | David Michael Spindel |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Education | Rochester Institute of Technology |
David Michael Spindel (born August 31, 1941) is an American photographer. He began his professional career in 1964 working with still-life objects and eventually broadened his horizons by doing portraits. Spindel also incorporates baseball memorabilia in collage form in some of his work. He is probably best known for photographing John Lennon and Yoko Ono during Lennon's last recording sessions for Double Fantasy in 1980.
Biography
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Spindel grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York and graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1964 (studying under such photographers as Minor White, professor Leslie Stroebel, Richard D. Zakia, Ralph Hattersley and Robert Bagby). He worked as a photo assistant for 6 years until his employer at that time, Tosh Matsumoto, encouraged him to open his own studio.
Throughout his commercial career, Spindel was featured in major newspapers, magazines and art publications. Television shows in the U.S. and abroad have featured segments on his approach to photography.
After 28 years in commercial advertising, Spindel began creating an interactive body of work called "Rebuses." Webster’s dictionary defines a rebus as representation of words or phrases by means of pictures or objects whose names resemble those words or phrases; a form of riddle composed of such pictures.
Spindel's rebuses have been quoted as being "unexpectedly different and more fun than finding one of Hirshfeld’s Ninas". Ranging in subjects from all-time favorite celebrities to frequently used everyday expressions, Spindel's rebuses are an outpouring of his inexhaustible sense of humor.
Notable fans and collectors of Spindel's work include: Charlton Heston, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Marty Allen, Stiller and Meara, Ann Jackson, Eli Wallach, Donald Trump, Jerry Lewis, Lou Jacobi, Billy Crystal and Dave Winfield. Regis Philbin said, “David is a little eccentric but you have to put up with it when someone is a genius”. Bette Davis once said, “David’s art is wondrous”. Joe DiMaggio greatly admired Spindel’s talent and posed for a portrait with his own personal memorabilia.
In 1992, Abbeville Press released The Bronx Bombers and The Boston Red Sox, the first two titles in the award winning, eight-volume Major League Memories series. Each book chronicles a major league baseball team’s history, in scrapbook form, from inception to present day.
Spindel is also known for donating his photographs to charitable organizations. He has raised funds for the Leukemia Society of America, The Mid Hudson Children’s Museum, A.L.S., Baseball Assistance Team (BAT), Lupus, The Heart Fund, Yogi Berra’s and Phil Rizzuto’s favorite charities (Handicapped Boy Scouts of Southern NJ and St. Joseph’s School for the Blind) and numerous family shelters.
Spindel's original photographs are featured at The National Baseball Hall of Fame.
John Lennon & Yoko Ono
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As a teenager growing up in Brooklyn, Spindel loved the music and movies of John Lennon and the Beatles. Nadja Hoyer-Booth inquired about becoming a photographer’s representative. Spindel immediately hired her, and it paid off in a big way the following year.
In late October 1980, Hoyer-Booth’s future brother-in-law came to Spindel's studio and said he had a group of musicians who were interested in seeing his work. They would be needing photographs for publicity purposes. Spindel had done the photography for several Kiss albums, so he was comfortable with the genre. He had also worked with other musicians, and wasn't too keen on taking on the assignment.
Spindel was assured that these photographs were "for some very special people" and he was certain Spindel would want to photograph them. The location of the photo shoot was Hit Factory Studio in New York.
References
- "David Spindel's website". Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- Riggs, Curtis. "Brooklyn boy David Spindel loving Western beauty". Retrieved 2007-09-25.