Dennis Stock, untitled, black-and-white photograph, 1967

Dennis Stock was relieved that a photograph from the series of shots he took on the set of Planet of the Apes was being used for this month's Parting Shot, because it wasn't that one of James Dean again. Most readers will know Stock by his iconic shot of Dean walking through a rainy Times Square with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, his hands punched in his pockets. But, when given the choice, why pass up the opportunity to feature the image of an ape getting groomed instead of a familiar one of a posthumous cultural icon?

The period Stock spent photographing celebrities such as Dean, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington was followed by his being set loose to photograph on the first Planet of the Apes set in 1967.  When asked what was developing in his mind when he took this shot, Stock remembers thinking that "the attention to detail you expect when [makeup artists] work on a star is one thing, but the attention when they work on an extra...I found that very amusing. The hairdresser and the makeup artist, so focused on this small person in the ape costume."

Stock's current exhibition includes a variety of pictures of filmmakers themselves, including Orson Welles, George Lucas, and a much younger Ron Howard. "I have a section devoted to young filmmakers [with] an empathy for the people coming through here for the Woodstock Film Festival," says the photographer.

"Dennis Stock Goes to Hollywood" is at Studio B in Woodstock through November 7. (845) 679-9555.
—Rebecca Wild Nelson