This enigmatic image has always been my favorite William Wegman photograph. I knew that it was taken in the early days of his career, back in the 1970s. And I knew that it was part of a larger body of works he undertook, which somehow managed to both lampoon and embody the principles of conceptual art.
Yesterday, Bill told the story himself: how he was coming from his painting studio to a party in LA; that when he went to pick up a slice of cotto salami he saw the little circles he had drawn on his hand earlier that day; the little circles perfectly matched and dissolved with those in the rounds of cotto salami; how he left the party with some salami in his pocket and went straight back to the studio and made this photograph. His first photograph and my all-time fave.
Thank you Nancy Burson and New York Film Academy for setting up the talk. It was truly wonderful and it helped clear up a mystery or two along the way.