"Who Shot Rock 'n' Roll?" Assessment

I read the "Who Shot Rock 'n' Roll?" book last semester, but seeing the prints is always a different story. If everything were to go smoothly in my life, I would be a music photographer like Annie Leibowitz, Bob Gruen, or Autumn DeWilde. It is my number one goal, so this exhibit was particularly fantastic.

The show starts with several photos by Alfred Wertheimer's sincere captures of Elvis's first year as a "star." He's shown with an unknown woman in a stairwell, right before a show. It was also Wertheimer's first year as a professional freelance photographer (right place, right time, eh?) and was given full access to Elvis. He went about the project in a "fly on the wall" manner. The images are so sensual and playful, it's pretty adorable.

Jill Furmanovsky took a really wonderful photo of British band Oasis. Over three hours she exposed four rolls of film of the band in the studio, then collaged the prints together for a final fantastical image. It was super impressive; Unfortunately I cannot find the image online.

Gloria Stavers followed David Bowie around in his Ziggy Stardust phase, and her one image in the show is so bright and weird. Goddamn, how I wish I could have been Bowie's photographer in the 70s. Can you imagine?

Right around the corner from this is one photo that is exceptionally sad. It shows Kurt Cobain crying on the ground, slumped and defeated. To know his fate really heightens the uneasiness. It was taken in 1990 by Ian Stilton after Kurt smashed his guitar into an amp and walked off stage in an emotional breakdown.

I read a quote by Linda Mccartney that was really nice to me:

"People who later became icons were on the brink of their careers wondering whether anybody was ever going to notice them. That's what made it exciting to be taking photographs. It was before the self-consciousness set in. I wanted to record what was there- every blemish, every bit of beauty, every emotion. I wasn't interested in manufacturing a show business image."

Sidenote: Bjork, you are not human.

Barry Feinstein's "Bob Dylan With Kids" is almost surreal. The distorted proportions make Dylan himself seem like a child. The darks are so crushed and the light at the end of the street creates a visual line for our eyes to exit.

I have a new list of photographers to worship, and they include: Bob Gruen, Allan Tannenbaum, Jean-Paul Goude, Nitin Vadukul, Pennie Smith, and Hans Schmid.

"Good taste is the death of art." -quote from Truman Capote, used by David Lachapelle in an interview. Lachapelle is known for his bright, real-space-and-time portraits of celebrities.

To round out my visit, and to add the exclamation point, Ryan McGinley had a huge print on display. I love Ryan McGinley. http://www.ryanmcginley.com/ Go there.

It is at least 6'x4'.

I rate the exhbit A+.