
Peter Orlovsky at Yosemite (photo by Ginsberg), 1956

Church of St Francis, Morocco, 1956


Michael Portman
Tangiers, top; possibly Ahmed Yacoubi (?), bottom

Burroughs castle steps, Tangiers (photo by Gysin?); Tangiers street scene; Kells Elvins (Ned Rorem?). Sobieszek thought
it was Elvins based on Burroughs' description, but some favor Rorem, 1954

Kells Elvins, top; two views Tangiers, 1954

Cafe Central (possibly Paul Bowles), top; unidentified street (probably Mexico), bottom; unidentified man on street, bottom right.
Collage by William S. Burroughs, Tangiers 1954-1961
“The photo collage is a way to travel that must be used with skill and precision if we are to arrive […]
The collage as a flexible hieroglyph language of juxtaposition: A collage makes a statement.”
William Burroughs (1962)
The collage as a flexible hieroglyph language of juxtaposition: A collage makes a statement.”
William Burroughs (1962)
The collages date to the mid-to-late fifties when Burroughs was living in Tangier and writing what was to become the text of Naked Lunch. As such, they offer a uniquely rare portrait of Burroughs' state-of-mind while he was in the midst of creating what was to become one of the seminal works of the Beat movement.
Most obviously, these collages echo Burroughs' famed "cut-up" technique and reflect the influence of long-time collaborator Brion Gysin, whom he would have recently met at the time of these creations. Perhaps more importantly, however, these works reveal Burroughs in many ways re-creating in visual form the "Interzone" of his early novels, an "imaginary city" which was "a combination of New York, Mexico City, and Tangier" in which he "construct[ed] hallucinatory, interconnected narratives for its numerous characters"
1 comment:
That is not michael portman
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