Roberta Bayley, Godlis Interview
At the link below you find this interview with 5 photographers who photographed late Tom Verlaine and his band Television; our favorite photographers Godlis and Roberta Bayley are included in the article:
WATCHING TELEVISION AND SEEING TOM VERLAINE
https://www.grandlife.com/culture/interviews/tom-verlaine-television-interview-richard-boch/
Roberta knew Television since 1974, about the time the band started playing.
"Television were like nothing I’d ever seen or heard before—raw and chaotic, dressed in torn clothes with short, spiky hair, sleek and spare and going a hundred miles an hour."
That just sounds like description of punk band that we are all familiar with!
She remembers that in May 1976, she was asked to take publicity photo of the band;
"I shot five rolls, which was a lot for me—I’d only taken three rolls in a session with the Ramones. Tom picked just one photo, which was also my favorite. I didn’t think he’d choose that one because his eyes were closed, but he did. No one other than Tom would have chosen that image."
We often see his distinctive eyes in other photos, so this seems to be very unique and impressive!
Godlis says Television was the first band he saw at legendary CBGB.
"by the time Marquee Moon came out, and I could really hear the words, their songs became a soundtrack for what I was trying to do with my camera. "
It was the time without any digital camera nor Photoshop, so Godlis had to push his films and try different ways of developing them, to make it possible to have his ideal photos that were shot in dark without flash. While he was doing so, Television songs were always in his mind or played on the record player.
The influence of Television songs seems to be pretty big, since in this interview he is finishing his sentences with excerpts of lyrics by Verlaine.
The photo is from a photo session on the streets of East Village where Godlis and the members of Television live. It started at the dusk, fall 1977.
"I immediately shot them walking up the block, myself walking backwards. Tom seemed a bit confused at first about what I was up to and no one in the band really talked to me."
"My plan was to keep them on board until I could shoot them lit up under street lights. "
The band members are indeed lit up in this color photo (unusual for Godlis, known for B&W CBGB photos), makes us feel that particular atmosphere of the downtown New York!
By the way there is an interesting story about this photo shoot on Godlis' own blog as well (and the title of the entry is of course inspired by Television song):
DIARY OF A LUNATIC PHOTOGRAPHER
https://godlis.blogspot.com/2012/02/first-avenue-looked-so-medieval.html