Brief Reviews
Quite outstanding are the photo-arrangements in which Carl Fischer captured
most creatively the atmosphere of the Factory and its “spiritus rector.”
His photographs . . . are among the defining works of this era, and even today
they distinctively designate Warhol's image as conveyed by media. . . Perhaps, also contemporary photography would not be what it is today without Warhol, and without his associates: Carl Fischer, et. al.
— Ludwig Museum, Cologne-Koblenz, Germany
Top photographer Carl Fischer.
— Life Magazine, “150 Years of Photography”
(The Segs portraits) an achievement enhanced by the sinister Carl Fischer photographs that accompanied the text. Fischer excelled at putting an editorial spin on his portraits, and it was usually unflattering.
— Carol Polsgrove, “It Wasn't Pretty, Folks, But Didn't We Have Fun?
Esquire in the Sixties,” (W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 1995)
Associate Professor of Journalism, Indiana University.
A group portrait of distillery workers that transcended its limitations as a “commercial” shot through Fischer's use of classical composition.
— Martin Gardlin, Photo District News
The haunting portraits of Warhol by Carl Fischer from 1969 reveal some
of Warhol's new reflections on his own celebrity self-image, including exposing his
own gunshot wounds.
Carl Fischer had his photography studio around the corner from Andy
Warhol's house in the Upper East Side of New York, where the photographs in this
exhibition were shot. After studying at Cooper Union in New York, Fischer had
begun a distinguished career as a photographer for magazines. He shot many of the
arresting photographs for the covers Esquire magazine in the 1960s.
In our post-Photoshop world, we need to notice the extraordinary artistry of
Fischer's studio work in his photographs of Warhol in the tomato soup can and
Warhol in the mylar room with scars exposed. His portraits of Warhol and the
haunting portrait of Julia Warhola, Warhol's mother, holding the iconic portrait of
Andy himself, are among the most inventive photographic works of the 1960s.
— Nili Goren, Curator of Photography, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
The top names like Avedon and Fischer.
— Richard Busch, Popular Photography
The haunting portraits of Warhol by Carl Fischer from 1969 reveal some of Warhol's new reflections on his own celebrity self-image, including exposing his own gunshot wounds. . . In our post-Photoshop world, we need to notice the extraordinary artistry of Fischer's studio work in his photographs of Warhol in the tomato soup can and Warhol in the mylar room with scars exposed. His portraits of Warhol and the haunting portrait of Julia Warhola, Warhol's mother, holding the iconic portrait of Andy himself, are among the most inventive photographic works of the 1960's.
— Martin Irvine, Irvine Contemporary
Carl Fischer enjoys a justified reputation as one of the profession's most creative photographers.
— Tom Goss, How Magazine
In the annals of magazine photography, Carl Fischer has an honored position. . . Throughout his photographic career, Fischer astutely understood what the critic Hilton Kramer once called the “gossip quotient” of portraiture.
— David Schonauer, American Photo
The pictures look very distinguished . . . We tried to mix the real with the surreal photographically. Fischer's illustration has always carried the day.
— Lawrence Mihlon, V.P. The Singer Company
What remains particularly fascinating for the viewer when inspecting these images is the composition of the work: considering digital cameras did not exist yet, Fischer's creations not surprisingly were referred to as “visual metaphors” by fans. . . His photographs had countless, intricate details all made by hand. At the time, it took Fischer almost three days to create an image, not to mention countless hours when exercising a technical precision and grace in the execution of the final product.
— Le Colette Magazine, Paris
Fischer's photographs are great stuff.
— Larry King, The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
The best studios, like top photographer Carl Fischer's.
— Kathryn Livingston
Esquire Covers
The Esquire covers were “powerful icons — among the most memorable in American magazine history.
— Carol Polsgrove, “It Wasn't Pretty, Folks,
But Didn't We Have Fun?
Esquire in the Sixties,” (W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 1995)
Associate Professor of Journalism, Indiana University.
Now there's a magazine that appears to have waxed fat and prosperous on a formula — those Fischer/Lois covers in calculated bad taste.
— L. E. Sissman, Atlantic Monthly
In the '60s, Carl Fischer innundated magazine covers with his striking portraits, showing celebrities, disguised and hardly recognizable, in an absurd context.
This not-so-long-ago era of the '60s, and the incontestable master of "chic and shocking" covers is undeniably the American photographer Carl Fischer,
whose memorable work, using the leading lights of the era, contributed to
the heyday of Esquire magazine.
— Numero Magazine, Paris
Photographer Carl Fischer's 1960s magazine covers for American Esquire are now as famous as their subjects. . . The artistry and meticulous attention to detail of Fischer produced images that stay in the mind and continue to have an influence on the style of magazine covers we see today.
— Peter Crookston, The Independent, London
If any icons of American graphic design are worth preserving, George Lois's Esquire covers from the mid-1960s to the very early '70s are. Most were collaborations with photographer Carl Fischer that took an average of three days to produce, they are considered among the most powerful propaganda imagery in any medium and certainly the most memorable magazine covers ever.
— Steven Heller, graphic design historian
When I saw the first transparency, I believe my exact words to Carl Fischer were, “Jesus Christ, it's a masterpiece.”
— George Lois, cover art director, Esquire