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Group lot of three TLSs from photographer Irwin Gooen, who took pictures of Bob Dylan at Gerde's Folk City in the fall of 1961 during Dylan’s first professional performance in New York City. Included with the letters are two glossy 8 x 10 photographic prints of a young Bob Dylan that were taken by Gooen at Folk City in New York in April and October of 1961, both of which are signed in the lower right by Gooen. The letters, each one page, 6 x 4 and 8.5 x 11, dated January and February 1998, were all sent to John Kwit, who was interested in obtaining photographic prints of Dylan.
The earliest letter, in part: “In all honesty, I don't have a print of my favorite of all the shots, and it's the one that belongs with the set of 3, taken the same night at Folk City. If you have a copy of Woliver's Bringing It All Back Home, it's the picture on the cover (colorized) of Dylan, which is the same as the one inside, of Dylan, uncredited. Yes, I'm the photographer, the negatives are mine. There is a photo agency in NY City handling my shots of Dylan (plus other "folkies", and other works of mine) for reproduction use, as in magazines, etc. But I am selling some prints made from negatives. The other shot of Dylan, also at Folk City, taken with flash, was the picture used in the NY Times in the write-up by Bob Shelton, which gave Dylan his first public boost (aside from the crowd that already knew him, very localized).”
The second letter, in part: “Since I am not doing much photography any more (aside from color slides I do of my outdoor trips, to share around with various outdoor-activity organization), I no longer do photo-lab printing. Which brings me around to your query about my signing the picture of Dylan. I never, in the past, had signed anything I hadn't printed myself, because I feel for it to be authentically my work, I needed to do not just the picture-taking, but also the picture-making. However, since these pictures are of more historical importance than "works of art" (despite your very kind words about all of them being wonderful), I will sign it…Another by-the-way is that altho' you referred to "the Gibson guitar concert", Dylan hadn't been in concert at that time. It was long before his big popularity, actually, the start of his career, and he was appearing in what might best be described as a folk music night club. Which is how/why I was able to get those incredible close-ups. I was kinda the house photographer, 'though doing it not for money but just because I dug the music and the scene. Of course, I got free entry, free drinks, and was palsy-walsy with the owner, Mike Porco, a great guy. Also, at times, if he needed me, I worked there as a waiter later on…just weekends when the big crowds came….I’ll enclose a list of the better-known performers that I photographed at Folk City back in the early 60’s.” The referenced list is included and is annotated by Gooen: “I have others, but these are the best-known. Someone ordered the Jack Elliot photo.”
The third letter, in part: “I don't now recall which of the Dylan photos you got, Times but if one of them was the one that appeared in the N. Y. Times, I just learned that I’ve made a mistake there. Another customer, who got that shot, said he has copies of the NY Times page, as published in Bob Shelton's book and elsewhere, and that the page is dated Sept 29, 1961, while the date I supplied is Oct. 3rd. I would have sworn I had the correct date on the negative bag, but…hell, we all make mistakes.” In overall fine condition. Accompanied by an original mailing envelope, four photocopies of Gooen’s Dylan photos, and a reply letter from Kwit that bears an ANS from Gooen.
