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Cool vs. Cold Reality

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Photographer Phil Stern, 85, is the legendary “Chronicler of Cool.” His iconic black-and-white images include actor James Dean (coolly smoking), actor John Wayne (coolly smoking), drummer Shelly Manne (coolly smoking) and the Sinatra Rat Pack (coolly smoking).

Before earning his reputation shooting Hollywood and the jazz scene, Stern fought in World War II. He photographed plenty of young warriors. They too were often captured smoking.

When Stern saw Times photographer Luis Sinco’s widely published close-up of Marine Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller, 20, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth during the recent battle for the Iraqi city of Fallouja, he was impressed by its journalistic power. His stronger reaction was: “Another dumb kid.”

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“Cpl. Miller,” Stern said, “is an exact replica of myself at age 20, facing an awesome enemy, scared ... and the cigarettes certainly soothed the nerves.” They also gave Stern emphysema, an affliction that he says has caused him far more pain than the two shrapnel wounds he received in Tunisia and Sicily. The diagnosis 2 1/2 years ago spurred him to create a series of stark anti-smoking graphics -- many featuring his photos of celebrities who later died of lung cancer.

Stern’s latest is a montage featuring Cpl. Miller and a corpse from the “Body Worlds” exhibit at the California Science Center. Stern passes it out to friends and at the West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital, where he goes three times a week for treatment of his lung condition.

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