Did Edward Gorey ever illustrate a camera?
July 19, 2010 12:10 PM   Subscribe

Did Edward Gorey ever draw any pictures of cameras, or figures with cameras?

My friend had an idea for a forearm tattoo--an Edward Gorey figure operating a camera of some sort.

There isn't much more to it than that. We are both convinced that Gorey must have drawn a camera (think old timey, with belows, etc) at some point in his career, but we are striking out online, and our print resources are far, far away.

Any suggestions or thoughts?
posted by hototogisu to Media & Arts (21 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I thought there was one in the Mystery opening - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ge-Yr5vkYU but I may be wrong. However, there are a number of Gorey bits on You Tube so maybe they would help. I also have the PBS Mystery! book at home, so if you can't find a pic before then, shoot me a memail and I will look at it when I get home.
posted by pointystick at 12:21 PM on July 19, 2010


I'm almost positive there is something in The Curious Sofa.
posted by dobie at 12:41 PM on July 19, 2010


Small box camera around the middle of the Loathsome Couple (Amphigorey Also), maybe not as elaborate as you'd like.
posted by lucy.verdad at 12:49 PM on July 19, 2010


I'm almost positive there is something in The Curious Sofa.

No dice! Just went through it, it's cameraless.
posted by soma lkzx at 1:15 PM on July 19, 2010


Response by poster: I'm off to investigate a book store. It seems there are several Gorey-drawn bits from Mystery!, but no luck with those yet either.

Thanks for the help so far!
posted by hototogisu at 1:28 PM on July 19, 2010


none so far in: The Headless Bust, The Iron Tonic, The Epiplectic Bicycle, The Twelve Terrors of Christmas.

still to go: The Haunted Tea Cosy, Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural (prolly not), Sisters of Sorcery (ditto), Amphigorey, Amphigorey, Too.
posted by batmonkey at 1:31 PM on July 19, 2010


Nothing in the first Mystery intro linked above, but there were a LOT of different intros.

Also, I can clearly recall a profile of someone taking a picture with an old bellows camera, though I can't remember where it was.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:38 PM on July 19, 2010


None in the rest of those. How odd! You'd think he'd have drawn at least one amongst those.
posted by batmonkey at 1:49 PM on July 19, 2010


I know I've seen one... a mustachio'ed man with an old draped camera, the cloth sweeping the ground. I even remember that part being on the right, facing.. something... on the left.
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 2:11 PM on July 19, 2010


Amphgorey & the Mystery! book yield nada
posted by pointystick at 2:19 PM on July 19, 2010


Nothing in the Uninvited Guest.
posted by KathrynT at 2:45 PM on July 19, 2010


Might he be mistaking Charles Addams (of Addam's Family fame) for Gorey?
posted by Confess, Fletch at 2:45 PM on July 19, 2010


I'm with L'Estrange Fruit and filthy light thief, I know I've seen that image. The only place I've been exposed to Gorey prints is in the John Bellairs series of novels, so if you have any way of getting your hands on original versions of those books, I would take a look at the covers and illustrations. I think the newer versions that would be in bookstores no longer have the Gorey prints.
posted by loquax at 5:28 PM on July 19, 2010


You're right, L'Estrange Fruit. I remember a man using the type of camera with the ground glass plate and the drape. And yes, I think it was in one of the many Mystery! intros.
posted by vortex genie 2 at 5:30 PM on July 19, 2010


I just looked through the anthologies Amphigorey Too and Amphigorey Again, and did not find any cameras.
posted by oulipian at 9:22 PM on July 19, 2010


I seem to remember something like this in a Bellairs novel, too.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:46 PM on July 19, 2010


For things Edward Gorey, Goreyana is a fantastic blog by Irwin Terry, who's been collecting Gorey art/items for decades. He writes informative posts (with plenty of images) about the art/items in his collection (books, cards, illustrations for others' books, etc.), their backgrounds and how he obtained them, as well as other details -- it's like visiting a Gorey museum online. He welcomes questions, so I just left a comment that included your question and pointed him to this thread (the comment is currently being held for moderation so it's not appearing on the blog right now...if it's approved it'll appear on this recent post ("Finding Things")).

Last year he started posting about the Gorey illustrations done for the John Bellairs books and still has a number of them left to go (he actually owns many of the original art pieces). Here are some more Goreyana posts about the Bellairs books (Google search) but I didn't see anything so far that had an old-fashioned view camera, and don't recall seeing one like that on the earlier posts. (He's also recommended the Bellairs site Bellairsia which has forums and a Twitter feed, although I'm not sure if they answer questions on Twitter.)
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 1:08 AM on July 20, 2010


Response by poster: Good Lord, I love all of you.
posted by hototogisu at 5:06 PM on July 20, 2010


Best answer: Oh good lord I have been killing myself to find this image. You want the cover of Virginia Woolf's Freshwater.
posted by haplesschild at 8:41 PM on July 20, 2010 [3 favorites]


That's exactly what I was thinking of - nice work...
posted by loquax at 10:38 AM on July 21, 2010


Response by poster: Hey everyone! Thanks for all the help! You guys found the picture I was remembering; my roommate is convinced that there is another one. I think she is probably just crazy.

Thanks again!
posted by hototogisu at 5:53 PM on August 19, 2010


« Older Me no Leica.   |   I Know Coronas Are Cool And Everything... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.