If you’re a fan of musical theatre, you know Joel Grey. If you don’t, you probably still recognize his work – “Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome; Im Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret” He starred in Cabaret – both on Broadway in 1966 (and won a Tony for it) and in the film version in 1972 (and won an Oscar). He’s also been in about a million other musicals, films and TV shows, including Chicago, Wicked, The Fantasticks, The Muppet Show, and even Alias. The man’s gotten around. He’s the son of Mickey Katz, and the father of Jennifer Grey.
But, as if being one of only 7 people to win both a Tony and an Oscar for the same role wasn’t enough, now Joel Grey is also a photographer. Actually, he’s been a photographer for a while – he bought his 35mm Nikon camera while he was filming Cabaret in 1972. But last month, an exhibit of his works opened in the Stevenson Gallery in New York. When gallery owner John Stevenson saw Grey’s photographs, he immediately booked him. The exhibit, called Looking Hard at Unexamined Things, might not be what you’d expect. Grey’s photographs are extreme close ups of every day objects. Things you see every day and never notice. And they’re BIG. Most of the prints in the exhibit are 46”x34”. Grey never tells you what the objects in the pictures are, but that doesn’t make them any less captivating.
He captured the images all over – Berlin, Croatia, wherever he’s traveled. Graffiti, run down buildings, the shadier elements of architecture that most of us would rather, and do, ignore. And that makes them all the more stunning.
Interview with Joel Grey from PRI’s The World
Emschwar
