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Ogburn's Star Shots
By Ferdinand Protzman
Oggi Ogburn was working on a masters degree in urban studies
at Howard University in 1971, and teaching himself photography,
when a friend asked if he could shoot some promotional pictures
of musicians visiting a local radio station. Although he had no
experience, Ogburn jumped at the chance and a remarkable career
was born.
"I'm the kind of individual that when I get into
something, I'm really into it," says Ogburn, whose candid,
lyrical photographs can be seen in an exhibition titled
"Backstage Pass," at the Auditorium Lobby Gallery at
the University of the District of Columbia. "So when I
started going into the darkroom at 5 in the afternoon and coming
out at 3 a.m., I knew something was going on. Then I got
involved with the music scene."
Involved is putting it mildly. Over the past 30 years, Ogburn
has been commissioned by record companies, publications, radio
stations and promoters to shoot a mind-boggling collection of
musicians, recording artists and celebrities who have passed
through the mid-Atlantic region. "The only people I haven't
shot are Aretha and the Artist formerly known as Prince,"
he says. "And that could still happen."
He has also served as campaign photographer for President
Jimmy Carter and former mayor Walter Washington, shot the
Watergate hearings and documented his travels as a research
assistant working for the late Dr. Chancellor Williams. The
exhibition includes a series of photographs of Williams, a
pioneering scholar of African-American history and author of the
book, "The Destruction of Black Civilization," that
are being shown in public for the first time.
Ogburn's photographs are almost all candid, black-and-white
shots taken while he was hanging out with stars such as Michael
Jackson, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Dizzie Gillespie and Bob
Marley, just to name a few. They have been shown in exhibitions
in the United States and China and published in major magazines
ranging from Billboard and Jet to U.S. News and World Report. He
has worked for most of the major record companies, including
Sony, Arista, MCA, Motown and Polygram.
"You can see where life has been a holiday for me,"
Ogburn says. "The past 27 years went by fast because I was
doing something I loved. It's been great. Every assignment is
different. I'm working for my friends, eating in the best
restaurants, staying in the best hotels, traveling in limos,
hanging out backstage. It really has been a holiday."
But even holidays can be dangerous. Growing up in Brooklyn
and Queens, Ogburn saw some of his friends get into serious
difficulties because of their use of drugs. Hanging around the
intense partying on the music scene confronted Ogburn with
similar temptations. But he says his work with Williams, who was
blind, helped keep him grounded.
"I had heard him on the radio when I was a student and
when I found out he was looking for an assistant, I
applied," Ogburn says. "I wrote him a letter and ended
up hand-delivering it. We hit it off and I began accompanying
him on the lecture circuit and helping with his research. He
treated me like a son. Working with him I discovered so much
about myself and about the history of Black Americans. You can
get lost in all the partying, but I had this incredible
alternative with him and that balanced my life."
As a group, Ogburn's photos give an unvarnished account of
life inside the music business. Behind the glitz is a world of
egos, entourages, road gigs, promotional appearances, interviews
and exhaustion. One of the most telling images shows the singer
Sade and two members of her band, packed into the back seat of a
limo like sardines, dead to the world. "They were beat. Got
into the limo after her show and passed straight out,"
Ogburn says.
Catching such scenes sounds easier than it is. Ogburn has a
fine eye for composition and a rare knack for capturing stars in
unguarded moments. That talent is particularly critical given
the egos he with which he has to deal. Some stars are more
cooperative than others.
"Michael Jackson can be tough to shoot because he wants
to control everything," Ogburn says. "The way I like
to work is just hang out and see what happens. So in that case,
I've got to go with what he wants. I'm not there to get into
people's faces about what I want for a picture. I'm there to
catch them doing their thing."
A photograph of the Rev. Al Green taken at a 1996 concert
date in Washington, is a fine example of Ogburn's work, although
in this instance he gives much of the credit to the singer.
"Al Green is a pro's pro," Ogburn says. "He gives
you so many different looks in the first ten minutes of his set
that you'd have to be blind not to get a good picture."
Ogburn's show is the second in a new series of art
exhibitions at U. D.C. featuring work by minority and female
artists. Manon Cleary, the coordinator of the university's art
program says the focus was chosen because it reflects the
student body.
"A lot of our students are working women, who take
classes at night. We want to be a venue for people who deserve
attention but for whatever reason haven't gotten it,"
Cleary says. "So we've been really happy to show artists
like Pat Goslee, who was our first show, and Oggi because their
work is so strong and our students can relate to it."
For Ogburn, the exhibition also represents a chance to
emphasize the non-music side of his photography, which he hopes
will inspire students, as well as other viewers.
"I'm locked into the music thing. That's what people
know me for," he says. "But a lot of the music
business is here today, gone tomorrow. I've done a lot of other
work, shooting people like Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, Nelson
Mandela, Chancellor Williams. I take a lot of pride in that
because those people are in the history books."\
Source: Washington Post,
Thursday, April 9, 1998 |
