Talk:Murray Korman

Reference to online pdf of monograph Salvador Dalí's Dream of Venus, pub. by Hofstra, ed. by Christine Trotter
We have two different versions of the citation for this work, one in the text and one as an external link. Would someone please choose the better one? Also, if it is now attached to the text, should it still appear in External links? --Ailemadrah (talk) 20:11, 11 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Ah, yes, thank you for pointing that out. I was carried away in a flurry of additions so I did not notice that the Trotter reference was presented twice. I will remove the external link. Binksternet (talk) 20:40, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Photo of Korman
In our link to "The Adventures of an Average Girl" from 1941, a photograph is shown with Korman turning the head of an "average girl" model named Lillian Kodak. This image can be used as the main Korman infobox image if it is uploaded with a non-free fair use rationale. Better yet would be a photograph of Korman alone, a portrait style image. Does one exist? Binksternet (talk) 20:40, 11 July 2013 (UTC)


 * I'll try to find out. --Ailemadrah (talk) 20:51, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Problems with the article Glamour photography
The article Glamour photography is almost exclusively about the use of models to create alluring, usually erotic, images. Although Korman did produce erotic images using models, he most frequently photographed professional entertainers (mostly women, but some men) using poses and lighting that produced striking images to be used for publicity to further their careers. This is significantly different from the style and purpose of the photography defined in Glamour photography. I also agree with the comments on that article's talk page noting the British bias in the definitions. Should we try to add information to Glamour photography so that it encompasses the style that Korman used (and that he may in fact have invented many aspects of)? Or should we just clarify that Korman was not a "glamour" photographer as defined in that article? Or is there another solution to this problem? --Ailemadrah (talk) 20:50, 11 July 2013 (UTC)


 * If WP:Reliable sources can be brought forward to inject a less erotic tone into the glamour photography article, then that is one method. Another is to create a new article titled publicity photography or studio photography, based on photography manuals, guides and learning aids. Binksternet (talk) 21:54, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Podolak birth?
I cannot find any Russian place called Podolak. The nearest choice, assuming a misspelling, is Podolsk, which is near Moscow. Is there a way to determine exactly where Korman was born?

Also, I bet his surname in Russia was not Korman; more likely Kormanov or Kormanovski. Binksternet (talk) 15:52, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

Right you are! I'm fixing it now, per the New Yorker. --Ailemadrah (talk) 17:26, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

New info on the extant negatives, also a question about photo galleries
I'm correponding with the Korman family via email and have just learned that they have about 1,000 of Korman's 8"x10" signed negatives (he actually signed his images on the negatives - an unusual practice!). I have their permission to replace the sentence "The location of most of his negatives is unknown" with the sentence "Approximately 1,000 of Korman's signed 8"x10" negatives are known to be extant and are currently in the possession of the Korman family." The problem is, obviously, that this information is unverifiable. Are there any solutions to this problem?

Second question: I have seven more images which the family emailed to me with permission to use them in the article. As soon as OTRS vets the permission, I want to use one of them as Murray Korman's infobox photo, insert another into the text (it shows Korman's Broadway studio with girls lined up to be photographed), and preferably put the remaining images in a photo gallery at the bottom of the article. Is this an accepted practice? --Ailemadrah (talk) 23:30, 19 July 2013 (UTC)


 * We don't have a published source saying that a thousand negatives exist, so we should not assert that fact. However, we can intelligently remove the assertion that almost none exist, and thus become silent on the issue.
 * A gallery would be great! As soon as it is feasible we can arrange for perhaps eight images in the gallery, if you wish, including the Battista portrait. Binksternet (talk) 03:32, 20 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks, as always! I'll sleep on how to word the sentence about the negatives and will try an edit tomorrow. --Ailemadrah (talk) 05:28, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Oops, just saw you already removed the sentence, which I agree is the best way to go. Thanks again.Ailemadrah (talk) 05:42, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

As for proof that the "Approximately 1,000 of Korman's signed negatives" exist, I've spent several years scanning the negatives belonging to the heirs of Murray Korman. Due to redundancy of subjects as well as a few other factors, they only sent me about 600. The hi-resolution scans can be viewed at MurrayKorman.net. Clydemac (talk) 04:11, 1 October 2015 (UTC)

NY Times obit
I just accessed Korman's NY Times obit. The paper is dated Aug. 10, 1961 and says "Murray Korman, theatrical and society photographer, died yesterday of a heart attack..." Should we consider this the most reliable source and change his death date to Aug. 9? Re: citation, I accessed this through my local library's online research arm, which linked me to ProQuest. The URL of the page I found it on includes my personal library number, so I doubt that it's usable as a citation. Thoughts? Solutions? --Ailemadrah (talk) 03:20, 25 July 2013 (UTC)


 * The newspaper itself is the cite; you don't need a link to a web-based citation. Leave the URL parameter empty and just cite the newspaper for the August 9 death date.
 * URLs are handy and they help settle arguments, but they are not required on Wikipedia. Printed sources are still acceptable references even if they are not digitized. Binksternet (talk) 03:34, 25 July 2013 (UTC)