Cold Hearted
Rejection
In search of the perfect
Frank Zappa photograph
No
Zappa web page is complete without at least one
photograph of Frank himself. In fact, much like
his musical output, the sheer volume of great
photos of Frank that are available staggers the
imagination. The task of selecting from this vast
body of work one picture
that will represent, not only the man himself,
but also represent the overall theme of the page
is certainly not an easy task.
For
me, the choice of which photograph to use for my page was
simple: There is a picture of Frank that appeared
on the cover of the January 1977 issue of Guitar
Player magazine that, for all intents and
purposes, is the only picture
that I can use. It is a picture of
Frank in his prime, exuding confidence and
charisma as well as serious attitude. Who else
but Frank Zappa would dare to pose on the cover
of what was, at the time, the foremost magazine
for serious guitar players, both professional and
amateur, while wearing a guitar that was once owned, played and burned by the
late Jimi Hendrix? Anyone else would have become
the laughing stock of the entire guitar playing
community. Not Frank.
As
luck would have it, I happened upon a reprint of
the interview from Guitar Player that included,
not the picture that I need, but two others that
are obviously from the same shoot. Both photos
are credited to one Neil Zlozower, so I did
a search of the web and finally managed to
find his home page.
Encouraged,
I checked out his site and became excited when at
the bottom of one page I found the following:
Drop me
a line and let me
know who you'd like to see featured next month or
who yo'd
like to see more pictures of. Oh yea, if you want
any of these photographs for your own
enjoyment that can easily be arranged. I just
threw this site up and I haven't caught all the
errors, so if you see some drop me a line and I
will return the favor by posting pictures
you want to see at this location.
Dave's back !
neil@zloz.com
What
follows is an exact copy of the correspondence
that I immediately took up with Mr Zlozower:
Subject:
Zappa photo
Date:
Wed, 25 Feb 1998 00:15:40 -0800
From:
zentao@televar.com
To:
neil@zloz.com
Dear sir,
I am searching for a photo of FZ that I believe
you shot. It was
featured on the cover of Guitar Player magazine
in 1977 and very likely
of the same series as the FZ photo that you
feature on your guitar gods
of the '70s page. I have only a reprint of the
Zappa interview. It has a
black and white of nearly the same shot that I am
looking for as well as
the photo that you feature on your page. Both are
credited to you. I am
putting together a Zappa web page and would like
to feature this photo
as the center piece of the page. I think it is
THE definitive photo of
FZ who's career was certainly not lacking for
great photographs.
Thank you in advance. FW zentao@televar.com
Subject:
Re: Zappa photo
Date:
Fri, 27 Feb 1998 13:08:12 -0800
From:
neil zlozower <zlozower@directnet.com>
To:
zentao@televar.com
References:
1
Hi Zenato
Thanks for the compliment!!!
Yes, I shot those photos BUT right now I am not
allowing ANYONE to use ANY
of my photos on any sites OTHER THAN MINE so
unfortunately No, I can't give
you permission to use that shot on you upcoming
site!!!!!
Sorry
Zloz
Subject:
Re: Zappa photo
Date:
Fri, 27 Feb 1998 20:01:58 -0800
From:
zentao@televar.com
To:
neil zlozower <zlozower@directnet.com>
References:
1 , 2
[From FW back to Neil]
You say "right now" which leads me to
believe that perhaps in the future things could
be different.
Thanks for the reply FW
Subject:
Re: Zappa photo
Date:
Sat, 28 Feb 1998 15:34:04 -0800 (PST)
From:
zlozower@directnet.com (neil zlozower)
To:
zentao@televar.com
>
> You say "right now" which leads me
to believe that perhaps in the future
things could be different.
I really doubt it!!!! Sorry
>Thanks for
the reply FW
no problem!! Sorry for the "bummer"
answer!!!!!!!!
Zloz
Needless
to say, I felt as though I had been "sucker
punched" in the gut. Mr Zlozower didn't even
give me the chance to tell him the offer that I
had in mind.
I
was prepared to not only pay a fair
price for the right to use this photo on
my page, but also to list him as the
photographer as well as provide him
with a link to his site and a promise
to try and encourage as many people as possible
to visit his site.
This is, at the very least, as good an offer as
he received from Guitar Player magazine.
The
more I think about it, the more I feel that Mr Zlozower is in need
of a serious attitude adjustment.
Now,
don't misunderstand me. I believe that
photography is just as much an art form as any. I
also believe in a photographer's right to be
compensated for his work as well as to receive
credit for their work. This is evidenced by my
previous statement of the offer that I was
prepared to make for use of the photograph.
Furthermore,
I believe that any artist has
the right to control the manner in which their
work is used.
So,
"what's my problem," you may well ask?
I
do not believe that an artist has
the right to consider the fact that they created
the art to be more important than the art itself.
Reality
check!
In
the case of Mr
Zlozower, I feel that there is a
certain attitude present in his replies to
my queries that betrays a sense of
self-importance that is unwarranted. This feeling
caused me to pay subsequent visits to his site
where I believe my suspicions can be easily
confirmed.
Let's
take a look:
Mr
Zlozower has carved himself a niche
as the "God of Rock and Roll
Photography," as the link that I followed to
his page actually stated. This niche exists on
the outer periphery of the music industry - an
industry that sponsors adulation of the highest
order for those who, by whatever means necessary,
become famous. This in turn creates a fringe of bottom
feeders that try to grasp the table
scraps of those worthy of public
admiration - hanger-oners such as
groupies, managers, promo men, dj's, journalists
and even music store owners that I have known.
For
the average citizen, contact with celebrity is a very big affair
most often marked by displays of affection that,
under normal circumstances, would probably lead
to a great deal of embarrassment for both
parties. And although fringe
dwellers, in some cases, provide a necessary
function as a service to the musician, their
position would not exist were it not for the
music and those who dedicate their lives to
composing it. Frank Zappa could have recorded for
any record label, played any brand of guitar,
hired any manager, had his fair share of groupies
and was photographed by countless photographers.
The people love Frank Zappa. Hobnobbers come and
go.
When
a person uses his contact with another to acquire
accolades for themself, that person becomes a parasite. In
nature, a parasite will attach itself to a host,
feeding itself off of the host, until that host
eventually dies, leaving the parasite to find
another host or succumb to it's own death.
In
the case of Mr
Zlozower, a visit to his site
reveals what I take to be a preoccupation with
trying to impress cyberspace with the fact that
he has rubbed elbows with
famous people. Why else would his front page
consist of nothing more than self-
aggrandizement:
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