compiled by Brioni Connolly

Remaining true to the "tacky tragedies" [1] of the Andy Warhol legacy, the Factory has presented us with yet another bizarre anecdote. Mere months after the death of the renowned factory photographer Nat Finkelston, another Warhol photographer, Billy Name, has stumbled back into focus to report the apparent loss of his 3,000-strong archive of negatives. Name became the 'official' Factory photographer in 1963 after a brief romantic liason with Warhol and his subsequent gift of a 35mm Honeywell Pentax camera. He retained this position until 1970 when he left the factory after what he described as the traumatic shooting of Warhol two years previous coupled with his disillusionment with the industrious turn the factory had taken.

Edie Sedgwick, 1966, photo: Billy Name; image held here

Name's photographic records of this dynamic era were Warhol's official press images, representative of the factory spirit. The negatives were entrusted to Kevin Kushel, a photography agent and a former director of the associate press' photographic archive more than a decade ago. Despite Name and Kushel never having signed a contract, Name was confident they were in safe hands. Recently, however, this trust has been somewhat challenged, with Name apparently finding himself unable to contact Kushel from his new Hawaiian location. The invaluable collection is now feared lost, with Kushel claiming that they "are not missing... they're just sort of being held by people who want money," yet declining to elaborate, adding that he is "moving as fast as possible to rectify a situation in which (he) was basically sabotaged." As Name owns the rights to the images contained in the negatives it is absurd to think that people are attempting to make money from them, being as they are basically worthless to all but Name, leading him to remark that "My negatives are in ghost land, man."

[1] Billy Name

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/arts/design/09billy.html?pagewanted=2&sq=billy%20name&st=cse&scp=1

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