Palisadian Steve Soboroff, Los Angeles Police Commission President, has teamed up with Santa Monica artist, designer and photographer Louise Marler to create a limited-edition series of prints using the typewriters of Orson Welles and Ray Bradbury.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the prints will be donated to a college or university journalism scholarship fund.
“Journalism should be embraced and celebrated, not die out with spell check,” Soboroff told the Post.
Marler, who creates images from original photography, graphics and illustrations, photographed Welles’ and Bradbury’s personal typewriters in Soboroff’s famous authors typewriter collection. She then created the “Famous TypOwriters” series.
The Bradbury image features his 1947 Royal KMM typewriter, which was given to Bradbury’s documentary producer who traded it to Soboroff. Images from “Fahrenheit 451” and “Martian Chronicles” are collaged to create a blazing monument of his writing machine that is a visual story.
“In the spirit of the writer, this artwork embodies Bradbury’s far-out and passionate intellect,” Marler said.
The Welles’ limited-edition piece highlights his Underwood 4-Bank, a portable from 1926. This red faux wood-grain machine, which includes his original signature, was acquired from the 1989 estate sale of Welles. The repetition of “FAKE!” in the background is a reference to the filmmaker’s last major movie, “F for Fake.”
“F for Fake was a brave statement about the (mis)perceptions of the art world that inspired me even more than Citizen Kane,” Marler said.
Marler – whose Santa Monica Airport studio is a shrine to the art and power of print in its variety of forms, and most particularly to manual typewriters dating back more than a century – met Soboroff recently because they were both featured in a documentary about the old-fashioned typewriting machines.
Soboroff is an avid collector of typewriters, including ones used by Tennessee Williams, George Bernard Shaw, Ernest Hemingway and John Lennon. His collection was featured in the Palisadian-Post on Sept. 3, 2009.
“Collecting typewriters with interesting histories is one of my favorite past-times,” Soboroff said. “Allowing Ms. Marler to expand her TypOwriter Artwork is a great way to share this interesting part of history with the community.”
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
Soboroff gave permission to Marler to photograph the two famous authors’ typewriters on the condition that a portion of the sales of the limited-edition prints goes to a journalism scholarship. “Mr. Soboroff’s request to fund a journalism scholarship with a portion of the sales gives me a great additional purpose with this project,” said Marler, who is in the process of finding the best recipient school for the scholarship. “Having a great respect for and appreciation of journalists, as well as concern for the future of global news, I am delighted to give back.”
Marler says her creations are a unique blend of past function with modern form. “It’s been a great adventure to combine my calling to visually communicate through print, writing, technology and now film,” she said. “My ‘Famous TypOwriters’ series bridges these art forms and will help support the next generation.”
For more information about the “Famous TypOwriters” limited editions, contact Marler at LAMarler@mac.com or (310) 204-0452.
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