From The Vault Of Art Shay: Getting The Cover

(Legendary Chicago-based photographer Art Shay has taken photos of kings, queens, celebrities and the common man in a 60-year career. In this week's look at his archives, Art shares the stories behind his magazine covers.)

At a Leica convention for a thousand photographers a few years ago in a big hotel near O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, a small florid man, his face twisted in hate, came up to me a few minutes before I was to address the crowd, showing some of my covers.

"I've hated you all these years, Art Shay,” he snarled." I was really relieved that the paw he was waving at me didn't cradle a gun.
Before I could ask why he loathed me he gasped out his story: "The night of the big snowstorm—1977—nationwide, Time sent a dozen photographers out to cover it. At 11 p.m. the photo editor Barker T. Hartshorn, called me." (Barker never called; he always barked.)

"Congratulations," he said, "You got the cover—a lovely view of Boston digging out: a classic.

"I called my friends, my camera club, my family and told them the news: my first cover on Time." He paused. "At 1 a.m. he called again."He lapsed into Hartshorn's bark. "Art Shay's film arrived late because of the snowstorm," he woofed. "And one of his frames—some hick snow shovel operator, his face covered with snow—bumped my cover."

If you can't wait until this time every Wednesday to get your Art Shay fix, please check out the photographer's blog, which is updated regularly. Art Shay's book, Chicago's Nelson Algren, is also available at Amazon.

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