A Loud Song.

Contains photographs taken by Seymour and also by his father and other family and friends. The title is derived from a poem written by his mother titled 'A Loud Song, Mother / For My Son Daniel Seymour' which is reproduced here along with other texts including a coming of age letter from his stepfather Allen Tate and a note from Robert Frank. Frank writes: 'Danny has a lot of hope and a lot of despair. He also has friends who share it with him. But Danny is an artist and if he'll survive – we all will be happy and richer to see what he has done.' Seymour got to know Frank when he lived above him in an apartment on the Bowery during the late 1960s. They had a close friendship and Seymour would often assist Frank on his films, including Cocksucker Blues (1972) which followed the Rolling Stones on their '72 U.S. tour.

At the age of 21 Seymour had inherited a large amount of money from his mother Isabella Stuart Gardner, which according to Ralph Gibson 'he was trying to spend as quickly as possible, which he did.' Seymour met Gibson through Robert Frank and Larry Clark and went on to pay for Gibson's Lustrum Press to print Clark's first book Tulsa (1971). A Loud Song was printed at the same time as Tulsa. In the introduction Seymour writes 'This book is not an autobiography. It is not that complete. It is an attempt to use the photographic image as a language, and with that, to make literature... it is an attempt to survive – to preserve my identity'. In 1972, shortly after he finished working on Cocksucker Blues, he disappeared from a boat on route to the US from Colombia.

First edition; 4to (254 x 254 mm, 10 x 10 in); black-and-white photographs printed in offset, occasional light foxing; photo-illustrated wire-stitched wrappers, white, text in black, minor toning, minor rubbing, near-fine; [60]pp.

The Open Book pp280-1.