Reflections on Todd Walker
by J. David Fraser
I had the privilege of working with Todd Walker for several years. I was his representative (agent) in the advertising community, calling on agencies in major advertising centers such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Detroit. I met with art directors, discussed his photographic philosophy, and negotiated contracts. However, our relationship was more than that. True, it was primarily to generate business for his studio, but to me it was an education, and we became good friends. I worked with him on shootings and spent time with him in the dark room, and we talked and talked about the things Todd Walker liked to talk about -- photography, philosophy, and more philosophy. He loved to teach, and was always teaching me something when we worked together -- he was teaching, and I was his only student.
Dave & Todd, photograph by Todd Walker.
Original color 4" x 5" color transparency from the personal library of
J. David Fraser, and all usage is restricted to viewing on this web page except with written permission from J. David Fraser.
When I was doing industrial photography for a company in Long Beach, I received a copy of Applied Photography, published by Eastman Kodak (1959), that featured the work of Todd Walker for Chevrolet. What masterpieces! Car photography at that time was "just make the car look good." Todd's Chevy photographs were rich in emotional appeal with situations that were simple, everyday events that depicted warm feelings of joy and contentment, while maintaining a subtle, but powerful selling element. However, these photographs were clearly gallery quality. And now after 40 years in the business I can say his advertising photographs were powerful selling tools, as well as works of art. (that copy of Applied Photography is still in my files).
November 13th, 1959, by Eastman Kodak Company, Rochestor, N.Y.
Applied Photography
Words are less than necessary when the
Photography: Todd Walker
photograph says so much -- so quickly.
Agency: Campbell-Ewald
Some years later I was an independent photographer's rep, and had severed relations with a good photographer, but one that I didn't think had the depth necessary to attract eastern agencies. I had contacts in many cities, and needed a photographer that would be worth the trip to California. A Los Angeles art director told me that Todd Walker had never had a rep, and that I should give him a call (I remembered the Applied Photography story), and so began our relationship.
Todd Walker was truly a great photographer, and all that knew him would agree. But foremost, Todd had impeccable integrity. His character was equal or greater than his photographic artistry. Todd had a great marriage, and his love for Betty was obvious to anyone who knew him. His family was his life, and he talked about his daughters, incessantly. Betty worked with him in the studio, and had a great talent for getting props. She would come up with some of the strangest things, and tell the funniest stories of how she got them (if it was legal she did it). I heard rumors that she bought expensive things on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and took then back after the shooting, but I can't substantiate that. There were some photography assignments that Todd would not take. On one occasion I brought in a big assignment that required shooting in Hawaii for a week 6 times a year. He apologetically told me he did not want to do it. It was border line bad taste (I knew it) but the money was so good I knew I should run it by him. The layouts were big piles of products on the beach with bikini clad girls, and even Todd couldn't make something of beauty out of that. I was not surprised that he didn't want to do it -- he just didn't want his name associated with it, and that was o.k. with me.
Todd did some gallery nude photography, and to make sure that everything was strictly professional, Betty was always in the studio when he worked on these projects. She stayed in the office, but passed through from time to time so that the model knew she was there. If an assignment didn't meet his standards he wouldn't take it.
Early in his career, Todd worked for Shirley C. Burden (that's a guy) who had a film production company. Shirley was from a prominent eastern family, and did not have to work. The film company was more a hobby, but a very successful one. I understand that when it got too big and successful he sold it. Shirley was a fine photographer; one of his works was a photo essay, I Wonder Why..., that became a best seller, but most of his professional efforts were managing his investments and charity work. Todd showed me some of Shirley's unpublished things, and they were outstanding. When Shirley sold the film production company he needed an office and a photo studio for his own personal use. He worked out an arrangement with Todd to share a studio, and they found the right location. The studio had two dark rooms, one for Shirley, and one for Todd, office space for each of them, and they shared the finishing room and the shooting area. Photo studios must be active, or they get dusty in a short time, and dust is a real killer of good work. Todd was working most of the time in the studio, and Shirley came in occasionally, which was perfect for him. When he wanted to work on photography, he walked into a clean, up and running studio with fresh chemicals.
Shirley drove to the studio in his Bentley or his Porsche, and brought his lunch in a brown bag. Todd, Shirley, and I had lunch in the conference room almost every day. A variety of other people came in on occasions, and if Betty was working in the office she was always with us. What an experience that was -- they talked and I listened. Shirley Burden lived in a world that is hard to imagine. One day at lunch he was talking about a new movie he saw the night before, and mentioned some of the people he was with including some Hollywood Stars. I thought if that group went into a movie theater together it would cause a mob scene. As he talked, I discovered that they didn't go to a theater; they saw this new film in someone's house. Todd and Shirley were a great combination. They both admired each other's work, and could discuss it openly. Shirley contributed much to Todd's growth as a fine photographer.
In the advertising community Todd was somewhat of a square peg in a round hole. He didn't like the party boys and to him commercial photography was just work to earn a living, not an excuse to get out of town and have a good time. Todd belonged to a group of Los Angeles photographers who met together informally and discussed ideas and the business. One of the members suggested that they call the group the Photographic Illustrators Group, and Todd said, "Oh, we're the Pigs, and the name stuck. On one occasion one of the photographers suggested that once a year they bring in the really great things they had done the past year and share them with the others. Todd said, "If you think you have done some really great things every year, your standards are not very high."
In the commercial world his talent was poured into those shootings with the same enthusiasm as his personal projects, resulting in superior work His commercial work was powerful advertising material. I'ts hard to describe, but when one sees his work one sees a warmth and feeling that few photographers can capture. At one time he was given an assignment to shoot some literature for a local fashion design company. The photographs were magnificent (truly in Todd Walker style), but the client thought they were a little too sexy even though he used them. They really were not "sexy," they just had that Todd Walker human warmth that was a great departure from the stiff manikin look at that time. Now we are seeing some of that quality in fashion today; he was just ahead of his time.
Test Shot for the 'You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda' advertising campaign, photograph by Todd Walker.
Original polaroid print from the personal library of J. David Fraser, and all usage is restricted to viewing on this web page except with written permission from J. David Fraser.
Great photographs do not happen by accident; they take careful planning, and sometimes rehearsal. We had an assignment from Grey Advertising to shoot part of a Honda motorcycle campaign. Grey was trying to change the image of motorcycles with the theme "You Meet The Nicest People on a Honda". Our assignment was to shoot a series of photos of a father and son in a Little League baseball setting. We had a motorcycle in the studio for the shoot, and he had me riding back and forth on the street at the side of the studio so he could get just the right effect of motion and background. This kind of shot was easy for him; he had done it many times, but he wanted to rehearse the day before the shooting to make sure his timing was just right.
Planning was an essential ingredient for Todd. We had a shooting for Rainier Beer of Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier is in Washington State, and it rains and rains, and it's cloudy when it's not raining. Some people who live there will go out of town for a few days, and miss summer. While others have never seen Mount Rainier. So how does Todd fly up to Seattle on a clear day, and get a great shot of the mountain? His flying experience came into play and be began checking current weather patterns and past years. He got some topographic maps of the area and calculated the best locations for the shot. When he thought the time was right, he flew to Seattle, rented a car, and drove to the pre-selected location, shot the mountain, and came home. The agency was blown away by the shots he had; the locals had tried for years to get shots like that, and the agency people thought he may have to stay there for weeks. That's Todd Walker planning.
U.S. Army Air Corps 2nd Lt. Todd Walker,
circa 1944.
Copyright Todd Walker 1945.
Used with permission of Melanie Walker.
Todd used his flying skills in other ways. Riding with him on the freeway in his Porche was terrifying; There must be a stronger word for "tailgating," but I can't think of it. Todd said that during his flying training while in formation, the pilots were taught to line up a rivet on their plane with a rivet on the plane next to them, and when that alignment shifted just a little, it was an indicator that he was changing position. By keeping those rivets in the same alignment, they could hold perfect formation. So on the freeway he would line up a part of his car with a part of the car ahead of him, and he could sense the slightest change in position, and react faster than the normal visual process (so he said).
Another interesting project was a corporate brochure. The client wanted candid shots of his office people at work, and in meetings. Usually these things don't work out. The photographer is disruptive, and the people are stiff as a board. During the shoot, Todd wore dull gray or black clothing, and tennis shoes so that he blended into the surroundings, as he quietly moved around the offices. He used a 35mm Leica range finder camera because its shutter was quieter than a reflex camera. The first few days people were a little self conscious, but after awhile they forgot he was there. The result was an awesome brochure, and as one thumbed through it they would get the feeling of really being there in a real working environment.
One day I came into the studio, and Todd was shooting a series of shots of Phyllis Diller. When I walked in she said, "Wow, who is that?" and then some unprintable comments. I think she was trying to hit on me. During the shooting I was working in the office, but I would walk through the studio to see how the shooting was going. This was a very simple shoot -- p/r shots for Diller's TV show -- and lasted about an hour. Diller sat on the set and talked continually, telling the foulest jokes I have ever heard, and punctuated them with obscenities, and that laugh of hers echoed throughout the studio. After she left, Todd made some comments about the things he had to endure on occasion to make a living.
Fraser & Aristotle or is it Plato?, photograph by Todd Walker.
Original print from the personal library of J. David Fraser; all usage is restricted to viewing on this web page except with written permission from J. David Fraser.
If Todd needed a guy in a suit for a model, he would call me out of the office and put me in the set. Various parts of my body are in ads all over the world (tastefully done of course). One day he stood me in front of a carnival mirror that made me look short and fat -- I was in newspapers and magazines all over the state. Other times he would have me stand in for some test shots before the art director and the models showed up.
Todd didn't like working with child models. He said they were all brats. He would rather get kids that looked the part and work with them. He told me a story about getting a call from an agency in New York that needed a shooting with a high profile pre-teen model who was on vacation in Los Angeles. When she walked into the studio she shouted at her parents in a firm tone, "This is a photo studio; I told you I was on vacation, and wasn't going to work." They pleaded with her, offered her gifts, and finally got her to agree to the shooting. What a spoiled brat she was.
When we did the Honda shooting we hired an actual Little League baseball team. We hired a professional model for the dad, and found just the right kid for the son. My wife got on the phone and called a few friends that had boys about 8 or 9 years old, and told them we needed a model. They showed up at my house after school, and I shot black & white Polaroid's of them. I had a nephew that age, and thought if my sister found out about the shooting, and I didn't call her, I would be out of the family; so I called and had her bring him over. I put his photo in the pile, said nothing, and gave them to Todd. He looked though the stack, pulled out my nephew, and asked, "What's he like?" I said, "He has red hair." "Great," he said, "Lets use him." "Incidentally, he's my nephew," I said. "That's even better," he replied. He used my 4 year old daughter in a shooting for Saul Bass in a corporate brochure for a chemical company. He was great with her, and the shots were superb. I have a dye transfer print from that shooting hanging on my wall.
Lisa Fraser, photograph by Todd Walker.
Original color transparency from the personal library of
J. David Fraser and all usage is restricted to viewing on this web page except with written permission from
J. David Fraser.
Todd took a very scientific approach to his photography; his exposures were calculated very accurately, and that was before the meters we have today. He even processed his own color film so that he could reach a higher level of accuracy. One year when Todd was working on a Ford campaign, a big name New York photographer was working on another segment, and came into his studio. This photographer said, "I understand you don't bracket," as he looked at a line of drying color transparencies. "I don't need to," was Todd's reply. The New York guy looked at the film again, paused, and said, "I guess you don't."
When Todd took an assignment to teach at Art Center, I could see the handwriting on the wall. He was likely to get involved in teaching, and lose his interest in commercial work. I never considered working with Todd to be a long range career opportunity. I knew that he had other interests, he talked about teaching a lot, but he thought his lack of a degree was a problem. I told him that with his reputation in the business no one would care. I was right. I considered working with him a valuable part of my education -- BYU, Art Center, Cal State Fullerton, and Todd Walker -- who could ask for more?
-- J. David Fraser
J. David Fraser
Dave Fraser has a masters degree in communications from California State University, Fullerton. He also had additional studies in photography at Art Center and Brigham Young University. Among his many professional experiences, he was director of the photographic division of CBS Publications, and is now the principal ofJ. David Fraser, persuasive communications, an advertising agency and consulting organization.
Email:
j.david.fraser@worldnet.att.net
Stacey Rene' Photography,
copyright Stacey Rene' Fraser 2002, all rights reserved.
Todd Walker
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