“Photography came into my life right after I got sober,” Elton explains. “After I got out of rehab I went to Cahors to be with friends, a great mix of people, including photography dealer David Fahey. It was during that trip and through the lens of my new sobriety that photography really resonated with me. For my first purchase, that would normally never be the case only one piece– Fahey, who was on his way to an art fair, had brought home boxes of work full of different photographers: Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, Edward Weston. I bought ten photos on the spot and I haven’t stopped since.â€
The John/Furnish collection currently includes approximately 7,000 works of art and counting. “While Elton jumps in feet first,” says Furnish, “I’m keen to know everything about the artist, the series and their overall work and how it all culminates in the piece before us.”
The collection covers almost every discipline, from still life to portrait art, nudes to fashion, abstract and graphic to real life and documentary. Francis Bacon can collaborate with Mae West, Divine, with Malcolm X, Penn and Richard Avedon with contemporary Fashion photographers Tyler Mitchell and Harley Weir.
