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Monday, November 1, 2021

Kovert of Hollywood

It recently came to my attention that Freddie Kovert, aka Kovert of Hollywood, probably didn't actually snap the shutter on a significant number of the photos published under his name.  He hired contract photographers, but provided artistic direction which resulted in a fairly consistent product line until he committed suicide in 1949 due to harassment by the police and the resulting financial issues.  Today we will see five examples of Mr. Kovert's art in an overdue dedicated series.  His background in the silent movies shows up front and center in this interesting photo of Donn Buxron.

 

6 comments:

  1. Despite the light oil, his body almost looks like it has been powdered, it's so pale in contrast to the background. The pose is odd, IMHO.

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    1. The pose and the pale body both make me think of silent movies.

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  2. What is that very thin line across each hip? It looks like he’s wearing an invisible posing pouch.

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    1. It looks like someone started to draw on a posing strap, something that was done occasionally at the time. Or it might have been not fully erased, something else that happened.

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  3. Parts of this photo appear overexposed while others aren't. Koverts models always seem to have their heads well lit, even with a dark background. Most of the photographers back then have their heads and hair fade into the dark background. It seems likely that the photographer over lit his head and got that resulted in that overexposed look.

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    1. Good observation. There does seem to be a "washed out" quality to this one.

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