Saturday, July 29, 2017

Runway Model

Kansas City Fashion Week, March 2017.

Photograph © 2017 Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.

Lou Eisenbrandt, RN: Military Emergency Nurse (retired), Book Author






While preparing for this photograph, Lou Eisenbrandt advised me of her involuntary tremors. She suffers with Parkinson's disease from exposure to Agent Orange.


Lou served in the United States Army's 91st Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai, Vietnam, as an emergency nurse from 1969 to 1970 - the height of the war. 

She was exposed to Agent Orange while cutting fatigues off wounded soldiers; their clothing was coated with the herbicide.

Lou recounts evocative experiences in her book, "Vietnam Nurse: Mending & Remembering." (Deeds Publishing). She was honored with an award from the Military Writers Society of America

Photograph © 2017 Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.

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Saturday, July 22, 2017

Tom Savini: Special Effects Makeup, Stuntman, Actor, Director, Author



As a boy, Tom Savini was inspired by how movie-icon Lon Chaney, Sr., could transform himself using makeup techniques. 


Tom served in Vietnam as a combat photographer; his job was to document battle damage to equipment and people. To cope with experiencing the human carnage, Tom tried to imagine that what he was photographing were special effects. 

Later, he established himself as a special-effects makeup expert, working on movies including Martin, Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, to name a very few.

Photograph © Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.

Friday, July 21, 2017

George A. Romero: Moviemaker

George Romero is pretty much the father of modern zombie movies. 

In the mid-1960s, George made a movie titled Night of the Flesh Eaters for just over $100,000. In 1968, he took the movie to New York City hoping to sell it to a studio. 

No movie studio wanted it. He changed the title to Night of the Living Dead, and booked a few screenings. It was immediately disparaged by most critics, and loved by audiences. 

George made additional successful movies about the imagined zombie apocalypse, including Dawn of the Dead (1979), and Day of the Dead (1985). 

Roger Ebert, movie critic, described Dawn of the Dead as one of the best horror films ever made. 

Photograph © Larry F. Levenson. All rights reserved.