William
Speer of Memphis, Tennessee has been referred to as "the man who shot
Elvis". In 1954, the young singer was trying to launch a singing career.
His publicist, Bob Neal, called Speer to take a few publicity photos.
Speer was a well-known and established professional photographer. "I
just happened to be in the right place at the right time, but what a
place and what a time! I’d never heard of him to tell you the truth, but
as soon as I sat him in front of the camera I knew he had it", recalls
the now 86-year-old Speer. Speer took eleven images and all of them
turned out. Elvis didn’t bring a change of clothes, so Speer was going
to stop after only four shots, but the photographers wife suggested
Elvis take his shirt off. He was shy, but agreed.The
photographer grew up as a fan of black-and-white movie glamor shots in
the glass cases in theater lobbies when he was a child. He used what he
calls "Rembrandt lighting" with an overhead spotlight casting shadows
downward.The
photographs were among the most memorable ever shot of Elvis, partly
because Speer was bold enough to ask Elvis to try "something different" -
a few shots with his shirt off. "He didn't look real happy about it,"
but he obliged. Elvis seldom used the shirtless poses for publicity
purposes. When he saw them, he laughed and said, "These have got to go."
But they have become collectors' items.Even
so, William Speer now was offered an undisclosed sum in what Speer
called "the high six-figure range" for his original negatives by a New
York collector. Two of the photos have appeared in Time magazine through
the years.Speer’s
Elvis series also includes a smiling Elvis, although, he says, "I don't
usually take smiling jackass pictures. If you're looking at a person
with a smile, all you see is the smile. The smile kills the whole thing.
The picture is in the eyes."