INTIMATE PHOTOGRAPHS OF ELVIS PRESLEY TAKEN BY LEGENDARY PHOTOGRAPHER ALFRED WERTHEIMER ARE ON DISPLAY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN LONDON. THEY SHOW THE YOUNG SINGER AT AGE 21, AT HIS MOST RELAXED AND UNGUARDED. IN ONE PICTURE HE IS SEEN KISSING A GIRL MOMENTS BEFORE GOING ON STAGE IN VANCOUVER, WHILE IN ANOTHER HE IS SEEN SHAKING HIS HANDS DRY IN A TRAIN TOILET. IN A THIRD HE IS RECLINING ON A SOFA, OPENING WHAT APPEARS TO BE FAN MAIL. OTHER IMAGES SHOW HIM REHEARSING, SLEEPING, TRAVELING AND RELAXING WITH FAMILY. THE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN ON PRESLEY'S TOUR OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA IN 1956, JUST AS HE WAS ON THE BRINK OF STARDOM. WERTHEIMER, A PHOTOJOURNALIST, WAS ASKED BY PRESLEY'S RECORD LABEL RCA VICTOR TO CAPTURE THE STAR FOR THE DAY. BUT HE WAS SO IMPRESSED WITH PRESLEY'S EASE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA THAT HE CONTINUED TO TAKE PICTURES AFTERWARDS, FOLLOWING HIM ON THE TOUR THAT WOULD MAKE HIM INTO A HOUSEHOLD NAME. HE WAS ALLOWED UNRESTRICTED ACCESS TO THE STAR DURING MARCH AND JULY 1956, BUILDING UP A COLLECTION OF OVER 400 PHOTOGRAPHS THAT FORMS THE BASIS TO THE CURRENT EXHIBITION. THE STUNNING PHOTOGRAPHS WILL BE ON DISPLAY AT THE PROUD CHELSEA GALLERY IN LONDON UNTIL 31.JANUARY.2010.
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