While there are many photos of Leonard Cohen autographing books, CDs, guitars, stray bits of paper, ... these shots of him in a Lisbon cafe with his trademark fedora, his eyes shaded by sunglasses, his shirt unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up against the heat, intent and focused on signing a copy of his Book Of Mercy exquisitely and evocatively capture the moment.
Posted at Let Me See Your Beauty July 28, 2009
A gallery comprising all items previously published in the photo series, Shades of Leonard Cohen, can be viewed at Collected Shades Of Leonard Cohen.
Leonard Cohen's bracelets have, of course, previously been featured on this site in posts such as the following:
The latest addition to this informal collection is the massive jewelry encompassing Leonard Cohen's wrist in this photo, one of the few that feature the Canadian singer-songwriter in his short lived pre-rap West Coast gangster mode. Also note the dark, collarless shirt, striped jacket, and shades. This rarely seen shot is contributed by Dominique BOILE.
A gallery comprising all items previously published in the photo series, Shades of Leonard Cohen, can be viewed at Collected Shades Of Leonard Cohen.
Whatever it was that Leonard Cohen was looking for during his years in residence at the Mount Baldy Zen Center, the process he employed in looking was certainly thorough. In recent days, we've seen photos of Leonard Cohen, in his Zen monk's robes on Mt Baldy, looking left, looking right, and looking straight ahead. Now, we see him with his eyes shielded by sunglasses, looking back.
Photo by Neal Preston (November 10, 1995)
A gallery comprising all items previously published in the photo series, Shades of Leonard Cohen, can be viewed at Collected Shades Of Leonard Cohen.
Kezban Özcan is Leonard Cohen's artist assistant (aka administrative assistant, aka personal assistant, aka celebrity personal assistant, ...).
Find out what she has to say about the Canadian singer-songwriter at Q&A: Leonard Cohen’s Assistant – Kezban Özcan.
The first photo directly above was taken during the recording of Sony-Bravia ad in Santa Monica; the second was taken during the recording of Old Ideas album - May 2011. (Both also qualify for the Shades Of Leonard Cohen category. A gallery comprising all items previously published in the photo series, Shades of Leonard Cohen, can be viewed at Collected Shades Of Leonard Cohen.)
Now that the paroxysm of passion surrounding the release of Leonard Cohen's Old Ideas album has subsided to a constant frenzy, the DrHGuy site can, on hopes, return to the use of its ongoing classification scheme. And, what better place to begin than with the cover art of Old Ideas itself, which certainly qualifies for entry into The Shades Of Leonard Cohen.
A gallery comprising all items previously published in the photo series, Shades of Leonard Cohen, can be viewed at Collected Shades Of Leonard Cohen.
Credit Due Department: Thanks to the ever-vigilant Rike for correctly pointing out that the cover art meets the sunglasses criterion. The photo for the Old Ideas cover was taken by Kezban Özcan with Photoshop editing by L. Cohen.
These photos were taken May 23, 2009 in London, Ontario by Bill Birtch, who writes about the event:
Leonard Cohen was playing the John Labatt Centre that evening. I was on my way downtown for a coffee and passed by Scotts Corner, a small bar on the main street, and as I rolled by (I use a power wheelchair to get around) I realized that I'd just passed within a few inches of Leonard Cohen.
My first thought was of my camera which I'd neglected to grab on my way out the door. I stopped down the street a ways and called my daughter, also an avid photographer, to tell her of my find but she was unable to get away to take advantage of this opportunity. So, I continued on, had my coffee and headed home after an hour or so. Much to my surprise Mr. Cohen was still sitting on the patio of the bar.
I stopped briefly, said "Welcome to London." He thanked me, at which point I decided to rush home, grab my camera and come back, a 20 minute round trip, in the hopes that he would still be there.
Obviously, and much to my delight, he was. I caught the eye of one of his companions, a band member I believe, and held up my camera with a questioning look on my face - my way of asking permission to take some shots. He nodded so I snapped a dozen or so shots from a distance of a three of four meters.
At one point Leonard looked at me and removed his glasses to accommodate my picture taking. When I was done I nodded, mouthed the words "Thank you" and returned home to process my images.
I should add that he was most gracious and accommodating to people who stopped to talk, a real gentleman.
Note: The description of the first shot in the above series (the photo of Cohen with his glasses in hand) included this explanation: "The lighting was less than ideal so it took some serious photoshopping to come up with this."
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A gallery comprising all items previously published in the photo series, Shades of Leonard Cohen, can be viewed at Collected Shades Of Leonard Cohen.
October 20, 2011: Leonard Cohen visits the Faculty of Arts at the University of Oviedo during the Prince Of Asturias Awards festivities. Photo from @miriamvillazon.
A gallery comprising all items previously published in the photo series, Shades of Leonard Cohen, can be viewed at Collected Shades Of Leonard Cohen.
Leonard Cohen shown wearing angel's wings during a photo shoot for a newspaper story. Personally, I prefer the third shot (which qualifies as specimen #93 in the Shades Of Leonard Cohen category) where he seems - well, less burdened by the wings.
As for Leonard Cohen himself, his only pertinent recorded comment was
I don't want to destroy the hard-earned sense of dignity with which I'm appreciated in this country.
All images are screen captures from CBC television interview, "Canada Honours Cohen" broadcast on Prime Time News (Host: Laurie Brown) Dec. 3, 1993. Found at the CBC Archives
A gallery comprising all items previously published in the photo series, Shades of Leonard Cohen, can be viewed at Collected Shades Of Leonard Cohen.
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