UNO's Ogden Museum of Southern Art Hosts "What Becomes a Legend Most: The Blackglama Photographs"
It's hard to imagine bringing life to a photograph of Marilyn Monroe or Elizabeth Taylor, but New Orleanian Peter Rogers defied the odds again and again. Nearly 50 years ago, an advertising campaign he created captured the starlets and other famed folk in large black-and-white photographs known as the Blackglama "Legend" series.
Rogers, a native Mississippian who now calls New Orleans home, was the creative force behind the classic advertising campaign, "What Becomes a Legend Most?"
The 1968 campaign for Blackglama Furs spotlighted luminaries of stage and screen ranging from Elizabeth Taylor, Ray Charles, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Carol Burnett to Luciano Pavarotti, Ethel Merman and others. The black-and-white photographs used in full-page, black-and-white print advertisements always featured the question: "What becomes a Legend most?" The word "legend" was always capitalized.
This month, the "Legend" series is on display at the University of New Orleans' Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Next week, Rogers will give a gallery talk entitled "What Becomes a Legend Most: The Blackglama Photographs from the Collection of Peter Rogers."
Ogden spokeswoman Sue Strachan promised that the talk, moderated by Ogden Museum Chief Curator Bradley Sumrall, "will be a lively discussion of photography, advertising and best of all -- what was it like to work with many larger-than-life talents!"
Rogers' talk is slated to start at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19 at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 925 Camp St., New Orleans. Entrance is free to museum members and $10 for general admission. Space is limited and guests are encouraged to reply by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 18.
The exhibit is display at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 925 Camp St., New Orleans, through Sunday, June 30, The Ogden is open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily, except on Tuesdays when it is closed. The museum is also open from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursdays.
For more information, call 504.539.9616 or email Colleen Connor: cconnor@ogdenmuseum.org.
