Robert von Sternberg 1975

Mike Mandel made this photograph, Robert von Sternberg, date unknown. It’s small, a humble, monochrome photograph. What can we say about Robert, striking out his leg like that? He is somewhere between a martial artist and a baseball player. There is something very human about his pose, the way he is captured mid-motion. I bet Mike was really cracking up when he made this. Or maybe Robert just has a great sense of humor. It’s funny to think of the artist behind the camera too. What do you think Mike Mandel was like, making this work? What was going on in his life, what was he wearing, and how did he convince Robert to strike such a silly pose? I love to think about the little details of a moment like that. Artists are always bouncing ideas off each other across time, trying things out, messing around. It’s all one big conversation really. And that’s why we’re all here, isn’t it?