Self-portrait
 
I am a child of the 1970s, so Dennis Hopper really means two things to me, Blue Velvet first and Easy Rider second. For me, Hopper doesn’t have much of an identity before Easy Rider, which goes to explain why I had scarcely any idea of his excellent photography (and excellent connections to the art world) during the 1960s. This information helps inform some of his filmmaking career, for instance his artistic intransigence over The Last Movie—only someone steeped in modernist art and abstract expressionism would ever have made such a stand. Everyday I Show brings us an excellent selection of Hopper’s b/w pics from the 1960s, be sure to click there to see more of them. Hopper wasn’t in the league of a Diane Arbus or a Garry Winogrand, but he clearly knew what he was doing and also had some great subjects in the form of Jane Fonda, Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, plus Teri Garr (!).

Three years ago Taschen came out with a gorgeous book dedicated to Hopper’s early photographic work, Dennis Hopper: Photographs 1961-1967.
 

Jane Fonda (with bow & arrow), Malibu, 1965
 

Biker Couple, 1961
 

Ed Ruscha, 1964
 

Double Standard, 1961
 

Andy Warhol and Members of the Factory (Gregory Markopoulos, Taylor Mead, Gerard Malanga, Jack Smith), 1963
 

Ike and Tina Turner, 1965
 

Tuesday Weld, 1965
 

Robert Rauschenberg, 1966
 

Andy Warhol with Flower, Slight Smile, 1963
 

Bruce Conner (in tub), Toni Basil, Teri Garr, and Ann Marshall, 1965
 

Self-portrait at porn stand, 1962
 
via Tombolare