Photo Op for Nash Collection

The Scene: Gazing (by invitation only) at rocker Graham Nash’s photography collection at Sotheby’s auction house on Rodeo Drive. The collection goes on the block April 25 in New York. To everyone’s amazement, the walls of photos by Edward Steichen, Diane Arbus, Paul Outerbridge, Pierre Dubreuil and others represented just a tiny fraction of Nash’s entire body of works.

Who Was There: Nash’s friends such as David Crosby, Andy Summers of the Police and Judd Nelson; photography-world types such as G. Ray Hawkins with wife Susan, Stephen White, Weston Naef and Simon Lowinsky; plus assorted collectors and wanna-be collectors.

The Buzz: On the one hand, how photography collecting has grown up; on the other hand, how L.A. buyers are prone to buying famous-name, high-priced photography.

Quoted: “Some of this stuff is pretty esoteric and esoteric in this city is lost. If it isn’t Herb Ritts or Mapplethorpe, forget it,” said dealer Stephen White.

One Moment in Time: “Part of me is in tears, but it’s the part you can’t see,” said Nash with a brave smile, admitting that letting go of his collection wasn’t all that easy. “There’s 20 years of my life in here. I keep going on this fantasy of, OK, this is a gallery and everything’s a dollar. Which ones would I buy? I’m very partial to Dubreuil and Outerbridge.”

Dress code: The same for men and women--basic black jackets, shirts, leather, turtlenecks, jeans and suits, plus assorted footwear including woven leather loafers, bucks, cowboy boots and Judd Nelson’s untied combat-style boots.

Chow: A Southwestern grazing field day, beginning with chicken and shrimp chimichangas, tequila-marinated salmon, white sea bass ceviche, hand-shaken margaritas, Evian water, Diet Coke and platters of ethnically original “Southwestern tempura.”

Overheard: “I’ll just palm two of these and no one will notice,” said David Crosby as he returned for the crab taquitos.

Coveted: The beautiful Nash catalogues selling for $30 a pop.