The people we see in Will Vogt’s film These Americans more than rich. This is the old eastern aristocracy, FR Tripler & Co. blazers and big, naughty dogs named after alcoholic drinks (brandy, whiskey) and Newport summers. Vogt grew up in this world, on the Philadelphia Main Line, and since 1969, when he was 17 years old, he has taken a seemingly endless number of photographs among his friends, colleagues and neighbors. (He later moved to Texas, and many of the photographs in These Americans were taken there.) Perhaps because he was of the same class as them, his subjects do not give the impression that he was anything more than an instant photographer; there was no fear of public exposure. “People wanted to be photographed,” Vogt says today, “because they were not afraid of where it would lead. There was no instant dump to your social networks and Oh, well, I don’t think I want that.” The best shots ended up in albums that Vogt kept at home, and they were not some kind of secret. “My biggest complaint was that people were like, ‘Damn, you’re taking all those pictures. Where are they? When will I see them? And I would say, “You come to my house and look at these albums, and you can look at them to your heart’s content.”

These Americans, fresh from Schilt Publishing with an introduction by Jay McInerney, draws on this work of 70,000 frames. The sample runs through 1996, falling heavily into the 1980s, and the unconsciousness of the gaze is striking. Everyone feels at ease in this setting, whether backstage at a wedding or at the bar or by the pool. Of course, especially in early photographs, old people always smoke. There are no well-known faces here, except for one – George W. Bush, who briefly appears in a sports shirt. (Some of the shots, though not many, are extravagant: some cocaine, a couple of strips.) The implication is that most of these subjects considered Vogt to be just a friend with a hobby, an outcast at family gatherings. It didn’t hurt that he usually worked with nothing more than a modest soap dish.

In our day, the world of dynastic wealth, though still in existence, has simultaneously dwindled and changed. Unique clothes and habits that once seemed like just the way we live are now codified as “American preppy style” and outsiders drop by the club like they never could before. (Not to mention that the old attitude of “your name should only appear in print at birth, marriage, and death” seems strange in an age of influence.) Whether Vogt consciously sought to document this world before it slips away, Or was he just having fun taking pictures of his own crowd? “Well, I think a little bit of both,” he says. But the more he talks about his intentions, the more it seems that this is not about historical records, but about simple personal memos. “I was influenced by my mother, she was filming in the 50s and 60s. I mean, she wasn’t a photographer – she was a housewife who took pictures. This is what people have done. And more importantly, she put them in albums. So many people take all these pictures and they’re in the drawers, under the bed or in the closet.”

The title, as well as the horizontal format of the book and the typography of the cover, clearly refer to the book by Robert Frank. Americans, the iconic 1959 collection that shattered so many photographic conventions. (Vogt says he greatly admires Frank’s work, and also adds with regret that he should have collected them when they were much cheaper.) Although the visual environment is different, Vogt, like his predecessor, refuses to name everyone. is. “We thought about it and really want the photos to speak for themselves,” Vogt says. “We like mystery.” Vogt’s book has no captions at all, although he says they could be very minimal in a future exhibition.

However, he was a bit more outspoken when I asked him about one guy who appears more than once in the book. “Hey what the Very an interesting family friend who was very wayward, a professional heir who did not succeed. He was married several times, but had no children. And he died too young because he didn’t take care of himself.” He was, Vogt suggests, the kind of person who always showed up, and you yourself might have dozens of photos of someone a bit like him on your phone, in your inboxes and albums; Of course I know. “He was, you know, kind of the clown of our class, on everyone’s tongue. People loved him. So this book is kind of dedicated to him.”

So if @fildanster I didn’t get an Emmy or a Golden Globe for my (literally) perfect, meticulously crafted, stupid and insanely complex performance by Jamie Tartt this season, I’m going to scream. A lot of. Probably also a curse.

— Keeley Jones, Independent Woman — Insert Sunday (@keeleyjones_iwm) May 24, 2023

CNN
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Kirstie Alley and John Travolta never had a romantic relationship, but she initially didn’t want to.

Ellie, who died on Monday at the age of 71 after a short illness, often spoke about her feelings for Travolta, whom she called the “greatest love” of her life.

The couple starred together in the film franchise Look Who’s Talking (the first film was released in 1989). during 2018 appearance on Celebrity Big Brother UKEllie talked about how easy it is to fall in love with leading men.

She named two co-stars whom she said she had feelings for but never fully absorbed the attraction to: Patrick Swayze and Travolta.

“I almost ran away and married John. I loved him, I still love him, Alle said. “If I weren’t married, I would go and marry him, and I would fly on a plane, because he has [own plane.]”

The same year, she appeared on a reality show, the Cheers star also spoke about Travolta during talking about The Dan Wootton Interview podcast. She said not sleeping with the movie star was “the hardest decision I’ve ever made because I was madly in love with him.”

“We had fun and fun together,” she said. “It wasn’t a sexual relationship because I’m not going to cheat on my husband.”

At the time, Ellie was married to actor Parker Stevenson. The couple divorced in 1997.

In 2013, Ellie told Howard Stern that Travolta also had feelings for her, but did not act on them due to her marriage.

“It took me years to stop looking at John as a romantic person” She said.

Travolta married actress Kelly Preston in 1991. Ellie told Wooten that Preston insisted on her flirting with her husband.

“Kelly approached me when they were married and she said, ‘Why are you flirting with my husband?'” Ellie said. “And that was sort of when I had to make a decision, and that was pretty much the end of it.”

On Monday, Travolta paid tribute to Ellie on social media.

“Kirsty had one of the most special relationships I have ever had. he wrote in the caption of a post on his verified Instagram account. “I love you Kirsty. I know we’ll see each other again.”