Elvis at Proud Chelsea

‘He was the embodiment of show business’ said a woman behind me at the launch of Elvis at 21: New York to Memphis, a collection by Alfred Wertheimer, which kicked Proud Chelsea into gear a month ago.

Most Londoners with a passing interest in music and photography are well aware of Camden’s Proud Galleries. With the recent opening of Proud Cabaret and now Proud Chelsea it would seem that the conveniently named Alex Proud is on his way to creating a mini Empire in our fair yet smoggy capital.

Proud Chelsea signified its intentions to stick with iconic photography by dedicating its downstairs area to ‘The Best of Proud’ a spine-tingling tour through the who’s who of popular culture: The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, Nirvana  but all caught at slightly less seen moments. A picture of Bruce Springsteen walking down an anonymous street was so less seen that I had to give it a long stare before convincing myself that it was not a school friend named Matt Lineares.

Legend had it that when Alfred Wertheimer, an on the make freelance photographer, was approached to snap Elvis in the wake of  Heartbreak Hotel  he responded with ‘Elvis who?’ Yet this unstarry approach has created some charming images of The King before success and deep fried Mars bars took their toll on his beauty.

With deeply descriptive names like Elvis Finishes His Glass of Water and Elvis Half Undressed is Distracted by a Beautiful Admirer, Wertheimer’s collection shows the icon’s ability to look iconic even when doing the most mundane of things.

The other thing the collection brings to light are the afterhours pleasures available to the young, talented and good looking. ‘Elvis and his date for the night’ is an oft-used phrase as a succession of nameless honeys takes their place on his arm. Some of these shots are very romantic with one showing a silhouette of the star and his fleeting Mrs kissing at the end of a dingy hallway.

There is also a sense of time moving on over the period of 1956-58. The latter photos show Elvis in army gear demonstrating  that the bubble of innocence inevitably bursts. Yet this microcosm of history will live on for as long as the photos continue to be exhibited.

Elvis at 21: New York to Memphis is on display until Sunday 31 January at:

Proud Chelsea
161 King’s Road
Chelsea
SW3 5XP

© Alfred Wertheimer / Photokunst.com