An Ecstacy of Fumbling

John Humphreys Johnston (1857-1941, American) ~ Le Domino Rose, about 1895

"I was one of the biggest friends in his life, one of the closest people to him. I can’t claim to be the closest, although it is possible. It’s contentious, but I wouldn’t… I don’t need that credit. But I was certainly among the three or four people who were closest to him in his life." (1987)

"I must be one of the people who knew John the best out of his life, you know. I must be in the top 3." (1995)

"It was only me that sat in those hotel rooms, in his house in the attic; it wasn't Yoko, it wasn't Sean, it wasn't Julian, it wasn't George, it wasn't Mimi, it wasn't Ringo, it wasn't Miles." (1997)

"I'm the guy who knew him best." (2005)

"I was one of the most important people in John's life and he was one of the most important people in my life. I'm the only person who wrote that body of work with him, who was in the room with him, and I.… For something tiny like this to cloud that is ridiculous. I love him and always will." (2010)

The first photo is from 1956. It shows a Black woman watching members of the Ku Klux Klan (a terrorist, racist, far-right organization focused on white supremacy) walking along a sidewalk in Montgomery, Alabama (USA). I couldn't find the photo's author, but most sources state that it was taken in 1956.

The second photo shows members of the Patriot Front group (a white supremacist and nationalist group, formed in 2017, that openly advocates what they call "American Fascism") traveling on the subway during the 250th anniversary of the U.S. independence in Washington D.C., while a Black woman watches them. The photo is by photographer Cheney Orr, taken on July 4, 2026, 70 years after the first photo.