Ten Days with Elvis Presley

Alfred Wertheimer was a twenty-six-year-old freelance photographer when he was asked to take pictures of a relatively unknown singer from Memphis. RCA Victor had recently taken this young talent on from Sun Records, and needed publicity shots while he was in New York for television appearances. Anne Fulchino, a press agent, introduced them; when she asked the singer, a twenty-year-old kid with his feet up on the table, if he’d mind being photographed, he looked at the ring on his finger and mumbled, “O.K., sure.” It was March 17, 1956. By the end of the year Elvis Presley would have more than a dozen gold records.

Later that summer, Alfred accompanied Elvis to Memphis, shooting his legendary performance at Russwood Park. After this concert, anonymity was over. The last time Alfred saw Elvis was a year later, just before his well-publicized departure with the Army to Germany.

When I asked Alfred why he decided to follow Elvis when he was still unknown, he replied that Elvis “permitted closeness, and he made girls cry.” Photographers today must be jealous looking at these intimate pictures. Now press agents build impenetrable walls to guard the artist’s myth. Alfred made the best of his access, clicking the shutter at the right moment and using mostly available light.

My favorite of these pictures, taken over only ten days of shooting, is the famous “kiss” photo. I first saw it as a poster for Sam Shepard’s play “A Fool for Love” and fell in love with it. A friend gave me a print inscribed by Alfred: “A fool for love is the best fool to be.”

Alfred’s pictures have become treasures that can now be admired at the National Portrait Gallery, in Washington, D.C., October 23rd through January 23rd. It is accompanied by a wonderful catalog: “Elvis 1956.”

Top image: “The Kiss,” June 30, 1956. All images © Alfred Wertheimer. All Rights Reserved.