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Call it "The Miracle on Oasis Street." Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but for two local men, 45110 Oasis St. is the place where their lifelong dreams were recently fulfilled. It's where A+ Printing, a long-established Indio business, is located.
Tom Pina, owner of A+, and Bill Kobrin, a celebrity photographer and Heritage Palms Country Club resident, were almost giddy with excitement when talking about their recent achievement.Pina published a compilation of Kobrin's work in a coffee-table book, titled "The Kobrin Collection: Sixty Years Behind the Camera."
It's 121 pages of black and white photographs of actors, comics, musicians and even an athlete from about the 1950s to the 1980s. Most shots are candid. Few are posed. Some are intimate moments with performers with family and friends. It begins with Grace Kelly and concludes with Luciano Pavarotti. In between there's Sophia Loren, Wynton Marsalis and Marilyn Monroe with her dress blown up by a burst of air from the New York City subway. Pina dreamed of one day becoming a publisher; Kobrin always wanted to publish a book of his photography. They both decided it was time to reach for the sky.
"As a printer, in my field, this is one of your dreams. To publish," Pina said. But establishing a publishing company requires a substantial financial investment, Pina said. "We had to have someone spectacular," said Pina. "We've had other people approach us with books, but this was the one to jump on," Pina said.
And just like that, Pina established Bighorn Enterprises and published a book of Kobrin's work.
"We took a little print shop and were able to put out a great book," Pina said.
Five hundred copies of the book - black cover with silver lettering - were delivered just weeks ago.
Kobrin, a New York native, has made an incredible journey from his early days in the Big Apple, beginning in 1941 when he worked as a clerk for the Associated Press. He worked his way up to staff photographer, did some freelancing and then became an AP Korean War correspondent in 1950.
From 1951 to 1958 he was a staff photographer with LOOK magazine, while continuing his freelancing with such companies as 20th Century Fox. Some of his fondest, and perhaps most famous photos, are the ones he took of Marilyn Monroe with her skirt flying up around her waist in the memorable scene in the movie "The Seven Year Itch." Along with those famous images are candid shots of a young Julie Andrews and her daughter, Jimmy Durante playing in the sand at the beach, and Ethel Merman dancing with Ernest Borgnine on their wedding day. "Everyone likes an ego trip," said Kobrin of the publication of his book. "And it's an ego trip as far as what I am and who I am.
"Sixty years behind the camera. It's a culmination of a life's work as a celebrity journalist," Kobrin said
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