fave photog/friend- johnny rozsa

In all my times in NYC, my friend Johnny Rozsa remains one of the most colorful, hilarious, and insightful friends I can think of. His awesome book, Untouched, came out this week!


I remember when he was first planning this book. During the really hard times in NYC (funny how it didn't end up being the really lean times that actually burnt me out-- I still had more fuse to burn back then) Johnny (and my entire East River South SGI district) was such an encouragement to me. He always seemed to show up when I needed him.


With no money (literally, absolutely no money, no job, and no more credit lines available to me) I wouldn't know what to do with myself sometimes. How to fill my hours when I was simply too depressed and distracted to write.


So I'd go running-- (and I don't even like running in general) something about running in the cold is nice to me-- I'd run from my apt on 4th and 2nd Ave over to Tompkins Square Park. Johnny lived in a garden apt across from the park and in the summers, he'd actually move his bed out onto the porch and sleep there. But this was just the last breaths of fall... just waiting until those leaves came off the trees... you can feel it, any day now. And somehow, whenever I was really struggling, he'd be sitting all bundled up on a park bench with his three little doggies, his crazy ponytail and sunglasses, fingerless gloves. And he'd be ready with some fantastic new plot for life. "My life will be in great sections-- one fourth of my life in Africa, one fourth in London, one fourth in NYC, and then now to decide where to spend the last fourth." The kind of crazy life plotting, life determinations that keep me up at night. I remember sitting on the bench there with him and talking about how long it took for so many of his artistic goals to come to fruition (turns out, it's way longer than I was comfortable with at the time [...okay, still]). And how he wanted to do a book anthology of his work.


Many of my favorite riotously hilarious stories come from Johnny (many are also just slightly too off-color to tell here) But Tina Turner is who introduced him to our Buddhist practice. Just sat him down. I mean, that's a good story.


He had a knack for either star-making or just exemplary timing, as whoever he photographed seemed to immediately rise from obscurity to the heights of fame shortly thereafter.


An afternoon on his website is about 80% as enthralling as an afternoon with the man himself, so I recommend, as fall really kicks in here, to take a lazy afternoon if you have one, and spend sometime getting lost in Johnny Rozsa land.


I miss this guy. So grab his book-- because who doesn't need a new coffee table book?


For my new UK friends, check out an article on Johnny this Sunday in the Telegraph!