OK so we all know that Bukowski's face was part of his legend, especially thanks to all the pictures that Michael Montfort took of him.
However, it wasn't always so. When you read his 1963 interview (from the Literary Times, found in Sunlight Here I Am) Arnold Kaye mentions that Bukowski was such a recluse that people even sometimes doubted his existence.
All biographies say that Bukowski became a very public figure thanks to Notes of a Dirty Old Man (so around 1969) and most memoirs and bio show that his many admirers knew how he looked like.
So my questions are, when did the first pictures of Bukowski come out, and when did his appearance become common knowledge?
I don't recall any mention of portraits of him in Open City (I never came across one unfortunately) and if there are early interviews in Sunlight, it doesn't mention if these interviews had photographs.
The earliest mention of a photo is about 1972 in a 1976 interview, about Bukowski's face being on the cover of "Erections":
"I know the face is helping to sell books now. The shot of me they used on the cover of Erections has done a lot to sell that book. The face on that cover is so horrific and pasty and completely gone beyond the barrier that it makes people stop and wanna find out what the hell kinda madman this guy is. So it was good luck for me to go through a lot of the shit I went through ‘cause now I have this mug that sells books.”
Then we have Taylord Hackford's documentary that came out in 1973 on television and gave him more exposure.
From some memoirs I read (especially the one from David Barker), his appearance and face were truly part of his superstar aura, and I wonder how and when it happened.
However, it wasn't always so. When you read his 1963 interview (from the Literary Times, found in Sunlight Here I Am) Arnold Kaye mentions that Bukowski was such a recluse that people even sometimes doubted his existence.
All biographies say that Bukowski became a very public figure thanks to Notes of a Dirty Old Man (so around 1969) and most memoirs and bio show that his many admirers knew how he looked like.
So my questions are, when did the first pictures of Bukowski come out, and when did his appearance become common knowledge?
I don't recall any mention of portraits of him in Open City (I never came across one unfortunately) and if there are early interviews in Sunlight, it doesn't mention if these interviews had photographs.
The earliest mention of a photo is about 1972 in a 1976 interview, about Bukowski's face being on the cover of "Erections":
"I know the face is helping to sell books now. The shot of me they used on the cover of Erections has done a lot to sell that book. The face on that cover is so horrific and pasty and completely gone beyond the barrier that it makes people stop and wanna find out what the hell kinda madman this guy is. So it was good luck for me to go through a lot of the shit I went through ‘cause now I have this mug that sells books.”
Then we have Taylord Hackford's documentary that came out in 1973 on television and gave him more exposure.
From some memoirs I read (especially the one from David Barker), his appearance and face were truly part of his superstar aura, and I wonder how and when it happened.