Nov 22 2009
Who Shot Rock ‘N Roll?
Let me just say – Best. Art. Exhibit. Ever.
If you were fond of the “Looking at Music: Side 2” exhibition at MoMA, you will definitely appreciate this. If you weren’t impressed by the one at MoMA, you will appreciate this a lot more. If you’re a fan of 60s-90s music (particularly Rock) you will appreciate this exhibition tremendously.
What I found most fascinating was that this exhibition was not to honor the Rock ‘N Roll stars of the decades, but to the photographers that shot them. As the blurb at the beginning said – this was put together to appreciate the photographers. But believe me, as you’re walking past each picture, and admiring the artist/band in it, you can hardly care about the photographer. This is an awful thing to say, and perhaps it shows how effective the photograph is, but I had to keep reminding myself that this is about the work of the photographers, not about the famous rock stars, whose music changed the world. Clearly, a very hard time.
Additionally, what I found particularly fascinating from one of the blurbs, is that some of the pictures of the musicians in them were shot before they came to fame. For example, there were pictures of The Beatles just as they were walking to practice, another of Madonna as she was walking down the street, another of Blondie playing at CBGB. That’s when the photographers’ genius really came into play for me – they all seemed to have a 6th sense that these people/bands that they are photographing will one day rise to fame with their music.
I will try not to be a spoiler (as I encourage you to experience the exhibition for yourselves), so I will discuss the basics of the huge array of pictures. One that fascinated me was the collection of Bob Dylan photos. It was explained that Bob Dylan himself liked to pick out the photos to use for his album covers after photoshoots. I admired that – the man wanted to have an equal say in the process. Additionally, what I admired about his request, was that he didn’t always choose the best looking picture. For example, he had a preference for a fuzzy, blurry one. I think it speaks to Dylan’s simplicity as a person.
Another fascinating aspect of the exhibition was the collection of photographs in which the audience interacts with the performers. As described in the blurb, everyone is synchronized – bobbing heads, waving hands at the same time. The photographers’ ability to capture that is amazing.
There were 3 pictures that will stand out for me for a while – one with Madonna, one with Oasis, and another with a mosh pit.
The Madonna picture didn’t have so much focus on the singer herself, as much as on the overall atmosphere. The photographer shot pictures during 3 concerts, and then layered them together to show all the effects during the show in one photograph. There was confetti, absurd amounts of light, and a dedicated audience. The photo was huge, dark, but so captivating in its detail. And Madonna was but a tiny speck in it (it was actually very hard for me to find her in the photo), which shows that this exhibition is really about the photographer.
The Oasis picture was of the similar idea. The photographer took film pictures throughout the day with the band, printed them, and layered them on to create a collage. It’s hard to explain what it looked like, but it was awesome – go see for yourself.
Lastly, the moshpit picture was one in which the photographer actually had to take part and be like one of the audience members, and be a part of the moshpit to capture its full effect, the feeling of it. At first I didn’t realize that the photographer had to be riding on dozens of hands to take the picture from the angle that he did, and then I read the description. It was fascinating. The description also mentioned the photographer’s need to position his camera in a way that would allow him to take a good, clear, surrounding-environment-exposing shot. It was amazing.
Go see.
Oh, by the way, after you’re done with the exhibition, you can sit and make your own “who shot rock and roll” collage. And who doesn’t love some arts and crafts?
I personally enjoyed the collage the best because it was so intricate, creative, and detailed. I just wanted to rip it down–although that may have cause some controversy. Over all, it was a great representation of such an influential era. It was a clever way to document the different singers and artists who contributed to the 60s and 70s.