IRA M. RESNICK

AUTHOR | COLLECTOR | PHOTOGRAPHER | PATRON

When Ira Resnick was 12 years old, he went to his first concert (Ray Charles at the Westchester County Center) equipped with his camera, and he was hooked. Fast forward 10 years to a decade-long journey he took from his home in New York City to California, trusty Nikon camera in tow. The Seventies: A Photographic Journey is a highly personal collection of celebrity photos taken by Resnick that evoke the cultural and social ferment and above all, the unbridled spirit of the era for which the book is named.

STARSTRUCKA DECADETHE SEVENTIES

IRA M. RESNICK

Passion of a Collector

After graduating from New York University Film School in 1971, Ira Resnick moved to California and embarked on a decade-long career as a professional photographer, working for Rolling Stone, concert promoter Bill Graham, and Media Press International and Globe Photos.

While studying at NYU, he started his impressive collection of vintage movie posters, highlights of which will be in his upcoming exhibition at MoMA, “What Price Hollywood?” which opened on April 8, 2019. The founder of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery, the first gallery devoted exclusively to the art of movies, he is also the author of Starstruck: Vintage Movies from Classic Hollywood (Abbeville). Resnick is the trustee of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and former chairman of the board. He is also trustee of City Center in New York City and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Continuing a long-standing Resnick family tradition of philanthropy, in 1994 Ira founded the Ira M. Resnick Foundation, a private, non-profit association that supports local, national and international charities focusing mainly on the arts, education, youth and social services, and aging..

Ira resides in New York City with his wife, Paula, and two children..

“The 1970s were a pivotal time in my life: I was growing into adulthood during an era of constant flux. I had felt motivated personally, and somewhat politically, to seek clarity. Photography was how I could explore America and my place in it"

IRA RESNICK

The Seventies: A Photographic Journey

Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood

by Ira M. Resnick

Foreword by Robert Klein

When Ira Resnick was 12 years old, he went to his first concert (Ray Charles at the Westchester County Center) equipped with his camera, and he was hooked. Fast forward 10 years to a decade-long journey he took from his home in New York City to California, trusty Nikon camera in tow. The Seventies: A Photographic Journey is a highly personal collection of celebrity photos taken by Resnick that evoke the cultural and social ferment and above all, the unbridled spirit of the era for which the book is named.

As a freelance photographer for Rolling Stone and concert promoter Bill Graham, he had access to some of the most iconic figures of the time: Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, and The Who, to name just a few. He covered events like all-day concerts at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley during these years when he was on his own, and it was his sheer determination and passion that propelled him forward, into the front rows of the top venues in the Bay Area and LA, where he captured some of his most memorable shots.

In The Seventies, Resnick has opened his archives for the first time to share with us his photographs—many of them never before published—of the era’s most legendary celebrities. He takes us with home on his journey, sharing the stories behind the photographs and placing us front and center to experience the palpable energy that emanates from this images. There are high-profile shots that earned Resnick coverage in Rolling Stone, People magazine, and US, but equally compelling are the unguarded moments that offer us a rare opportunity to see a different side of these uber-public personalities. Through his lens we see the Pointer Sisters grabbing a quick bite of barbecue backstage, Rock Hudson enduring a wet smooch from his Irish setter, and Al Franken and Bill Murray sharing a laugh during a rehearsal for Saturday Night Live.

Celebrities who have been A-listers for decades make some of their first public appearances in these pages—a long-haired Martin Scorsese, a fresh-faced 23-year-old newcomer Sissy Spacek, and young Emilio Estevez with this father, Martin Sheen.

From Ira Resnick’s first celebrity photo—a candid shot of Ali MacGraw at new York’s Earth Day rally in 1970—to an electrifying series of photos taken in 1979 of Pat Benatar, The Seventies spans a decade that epitomized sex and drugs and rock and roll, but also much more: heart and hope. And as he writes in his introduction: his pictures give us a sense of what it was like to be an active participant in a rapidly changing America. [READ MORE]

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STARSTRUCK

Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood

by Ira M. Resnick

Foreword by Martin Scorsese

For more than four decades, film historian Ira M. Resnick has been amassing a world-class collection of more than 2,000 movie posters and 1,500 stills. Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood features the best of Resnick’s collection, with vivid reproductions of 258 color posters and 28 black-and-white stills from Hollywood's Golden Age–1912 to 1962.

Resnick relates how his lifelong passion for film led to a career as a collector and the founder of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery in New York City. Resnick recounts the evolution of his collection, including thoughtful descriptions of the stars and films the pieces depict. From silent films to Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Resnick provides an entertaining and informative tour of cinematic history. [READ MORE]

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STARSTRUCK REVIEWS

Ira Resnick has - according to his own text in this large and beautifully produced coffee-table-size book - been collecting classic movie posters for over 30 years. When it became more of an obsession he opened the only private art gallery devoted to movie posters. He also found himself on the Board of Trustees of Film Society of Lincoln Center, which allowed him to meet many of the still-living stars of films he loved.

Steve Ramm

This book, simply put is the absolute best poster book on old movies ever put in print. Fans of old Hollywood will flip, I have purchased this book 7 times now as gifts and the proud new owners have truly loved them. Ira Resnick is really the best at what he does and to see it in book form, beautiful to display as it is coffee table in size, is a 100 percent must have. Worth every penny.

David K Huss


“More than just a picture book of some of the most beautiful and rare posters from 1912 to 1962, Starstruck also is an exploration of one man's unending passion.”

LOS ANGELES TIMES

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MOTION PICTURE ARTS GALLERY

Ira's Motion Picture Arts Gallery is the premier movie poster gallery in the New York Metro area, and a leader on the Internet for original movie posters. Motion Picture Arts Gallery's inventory includes an array of rare, vintage, contemporary, and original collectible posters in all movie and film genres.

“Movie posters during the days of classic Hollywood were a film’s main promotional vehicle. They were integrally connected to every aspect of a film’s production and release, and each one tells a different story.”

IRA RESNICK