In 1965, Bob Dylan went to Andy Warhol’s Factory to do his “Screen Test.” Dylan’s career was just picking up, slowly becoming a household name. Warhol was the biggest name in pop art (although Campbell’s Soup 1 was still three years away). Many celebrities and “beautiful people” of the world including Salvador Dali, Allen Ginsberg, and Edie Sedgwick took part in dozens of screen tests, but to me, this single image is the most striking. You see Elvis Presley in a classic Americana cowboy pose. You see always androgynous Warhol in his patented turtle neck, and the Bohemian hero Dlyan, each in their own way living the American Dream. This image, much like the minds of the three icons who are framed in it, is much of a mystery. With so many people in the Factory at a given time, and all of them having cameras, the author of this image is shrouded with mystery. The use of light and dark, shadow and flash leave the viewer with an eerie feeling about the characters in the image.
Once you 'got' Pop, you could never see a sign again the same way again. And once you thought Pop, you could never see America the same way again. - Andy Warhol
I have this photo hanging on the wall in my hallway. It reminds me everyday that I need to question what is normal. There is hope out there for the underground. Each member in this photo is a pioneer. A voice of a generation in their own right, and to have shot them candidly in this fashion is astounding to me.
Here is a link to The Dylan Screen Test (someone has added the Velvet Underground's Heroin as the soundtrack): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M--oHOn4a0U
Screen Tests: http://edu.warhol.org/aract_screentest.html
Mike Fox
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