Sandra Bernhard

I am not sure when I became a fan of Sandra Bernhard. I don’t recall which television interview she was doing. I do remember her being on Arsenio Hall a lot when he had his first talk show.

(This is the photograph from the first time I met Sandra Bernhard at the Seattle International Film Festival.)

Somewhere along the line I stumbled across Without You I’m Nothing and it was her rendition of Prince’s Little Red Corvette that I found interesting. The next to nothing costume also helped. She sort of went underground and then in 1997 I met her at the Seattle International Film Festival.

 In her recent show at the Zachery Scott Topfer theater, she mentioned those awkward moments where you meet people you’ve admired and they sort of disappoint you. Our meeting was almost like that. It wasn’t that she disappointed me because she did allow me to photograph her and sign my catalog. It was the fact that the audience didn’t respond the way she had hoped and she walked out of the theater. I remember getting my hands on I’m Still Here Damn It and seeing her in a few shows off and on. She appeared in the Documentary Unzipped which was about fashion designer Isaac Mizrah and one of his collections. She played a writing instructor on the L Word and she appeared in the film Dare which I happened to stumble across and it seemed of interest.

In her new show she talks about the people who were managing her career and how it seemed to put her in oblivion. Now she is working her way back and talking about it. The show is personal, funny, and she drops the F bomb a lot. She talks about everyone, almost.

There were several moments that really made me laugh, but I think the funniest moment for me was when she talked about what she thought it must have been like for Michelle and Barrack Obama the first night in the white house.

I was looking at my photographs that I had taken and I realized how interesting her face is. Herb Ritts captured those lips and they were the cover of the Notorious book. Sandra Bernhard has always been controversial perhaps that’s the other thing I liked about her. I seem to gravitate toward those that are different and challenge the system.

After the show was over I waited to see if I could get a minute just to say that I liked the show and remind her where we met. I’m not sure if she really remembered, but she seemed as if she did. She told me to contact so and so which was a good gesture. I may or may not do it. It would be great if I could get clearance to use my photos in a book or have her people use them. Still, I have the memories of literally rubbing elbows with Sandra Bernhard.

I had come up with several titles for a book of the celebs I’ve met. I like the title Rubbing Elbows. It seems suggestive, but most of the time you just happen to be in the room with someone and you pass by them, brushing elbows and you glance, smile; maybe say a kind word.



Thanks for stopping by; and keep an open mind.

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