Blogs

© Jill Furmanovsky. Noel Gallagher of Oasis, Maine Road, Manchester City football ground, 1996. Part of the film accompanying Who Shot Rock & Roll. Courtesy Rockarchive.com

By Noel Gallagher

Maine Road was where we all used to go as kids. So I was standing there, trying to make sure I never forgot this moment. After the show I was trying to take it all in, watching (out of a dressing-room window that faced the stadium) everybody go, and it was a weird thing because the lights were all on and it was dark outside. It looked like a big front room, except there were 20,000 people in it.

Read what Jill Furmanovsky had to say about the above image, which she shot, in a previous blog post. See more of Jill's images in Who Shot Rock & Roll, showing at the Annenberg Space for Photography through October 21, 2012. Learn more about Jill on her website, www.rockarchive.com.

© Edward Colver. Flip Shot, Pasadena, CA, 1981. Part of the film accompanying the exhibit Who Shot Rock & Roll.

The show will rock on!

Due to unprecedented popular demand, Who Shot Rock & Roll will be extended an additional two weeks. That means you have until October 21, 2012 to see the show for the first time or the 20th time. After that date, the show will leave the United States and travel abroad. Who Shot Rock & Roll will travel to its final stop later this year: the Auckland Art Gallery in New Zealand. Once the exhibit closes, the Space will shut down until November 17 to prepare for our next show.

Up next at the Space is No Strangers. Click here for more information about that exciting exhibit.

© Jill Furmanovsky. Noel Gallagher of Oasis, Maine Road, Manchester City football ground, 1996. Part of the film accompanying Who Shot Rock & Roll. Courtesy Rockarchive.com

By Jill Furmanovsky

I took this picture with a Nikon and a wide angle lens on Tri-X film. I was perched on a raised part of the stage where later a four piece string section would sit. I hid there for several minutes waiting for the band to come onstage. A gigantic roar was the signal. When Noel Gallagher walked out and headed for the front of the stage I put the camera over the parapet to take this shot. I thought as I always think at these tense moments, 'Keep calm JF! Don't f--- it up!" I didn't. 

See more of Jill Furmanovsky's images in Who Shot Rock & Roll, showing at the Annenberg Space for Photography through October 7, 2012. Learn more about Jill on her website, www.rockarchive.com.

Anya Phillips and Debbie Harry, Staten Island ferry, New York City. Graphics by John Holmstrom, "The Legend of Nick Detroit." © Chris Stein

By Chris Stein

Somehow I now associate images from that great 1976 issue of Punk magazine, “Legend Of Nick Detroit,” to the famous headline, “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” published in the Daily News the previous year. New York City was in decline at the time (well, actually even earlier) and I had had visions of young people playing in the rubble, among the skeletons of the city. For the downtown crew that I was a part of, a ride on the Staten Island ferry was like an excursion into the wildest nature.

Anya Phillips and Debbie Harry, Staten Island ferry, New York City. Graphics by John Holmstrom, "The Legend of Nick Detroit." © Chris Stein

Today the “Legend Of Nick Detroit” might be construed as performance art but in 1976, I'm not sure if it had a classification. Cartoonist John Holstrom did the artwork on the photos.

Anyway we wound up on the ferry acting out the shootout twixt Nick and the Nazi Dykes, who were sort of villains. Debbie Harry and Anya Phillips went down in a hail of cartoon bullets. Anya was one of the movers and shakers of the burgeoning New York underground rock scene but that's another story...

Chris Stein is co-founder and guitarist of Blondie and also a photographer. See his images in the Who Shot Rock & Roll exhibit, currently showing at the Annenberg Space for Photography.

Thanks to everyone who came to the Photography Space yesterday, the Labor Day holiday. Our staff greeted visitors with complimentary treats and drinks. Guests were also given the opportunity to pose for free photos with a variety of musical instruments (the inflatable kind) to celebrate the Who Shot Rock & Roll exhibit. Here are a couple of fun pictures from the day. Looks like everyone had a great time. Hope you all had a very good holiday!

In the clip above, Who Shot Rock & Roll featured photographer Bob Gruen reveals why he enjoys being a rock & roll photographer. "Rock & roll is fun", he says, "and I like to have fun. That's why I like rock & roll." Pretty simple formula if you ask us. But what about the musicians he photographed? Legendary rocker Alice Cooper approved of Gruen and allowed him intimate access to his life on and off stage. According to him, Gruen was "an exception to a lot of the rock photographers."

Watch the short clip above to learn more about the photographer and rocker.

R.E.M, Walter's Bar-B-Que, Athens, Georgia, 1984

Earlier this month, photographer Laura Levine described her take on the above image of R.E.M., which she shot in 1984 at Walter's Bar-B-Que in Athens, Georgia. She wrote, "We'd been taking photos all morning and we'd worked up quite an appetite, so we stopped into Walter's for lunch (It was the guys' favorite BBQ joint).  While we were eating I looked around and saw a great photograph there, so I stepped behind the counter and quickly took a few frames."

Band member Peter Buck has also submitted his own memories on the moment. Here's what he told us: "Walter's BBQ is still my platonic ideal of what a BBQ place should be. Great food, great conversation, and old school soul music constantly playing. I also got a kick out of the liquor bottle stashed under the counter."

Who Shot Rock & Roll runs at the Annenberg Space for Photography now through October 7, 2012!

Radiohead, St. Louis, 1993 © Nitin Vadukul

Authored by Nitin Vadukul

In 1993, I was asked by Rolling Stone magazine to photograph Radiohead in St. Louis, Missouri where the band was scheduled to play a show. I was such an avid fan that I accepted the assignment without hesitation.

On the morning of the shoot, I met the guys at their hotel for breakfast. We chatted over a nice selection of tea and then proceeded to a location near the hotel and the famous Gateway Arch that I had scouted earlier that day.

I began with taking group portraits - all of which were beautiful – but shortly after, came up with an idea I was excited about.  I wanted to create an image that would double expose each member of the band onto just one piece of film.

In order to accomplish this, I photographed each of the guys individually against a black background. I rewound the film back to the same exposure after taking each one of their pictures. The only tools I used were my Nikon F4 camera and a roll of Kodak Tri-X film. It was simply one negative - no retouching in the camera at all.

The image you see is the end result. To me, the photograph captures the soul of Radiohead.

This all occurred prior to the launch of their second album, The Bends, which I consider to be one of their finest. The band was a complete pleasure to photograph. They were so cooperative and professional that we were done in the one hour I was given to shoot them. Radiohead still continues to break new ground with their music by experimentation and as an artist myself, their inspiration played a vital role in the final image which was selected to be a part of this incredible collection of photographs.

See Nitin Vadukul's work in the Who Shot Rock & Roll exhibit, currently showing at the Annenberg Space for Photography. To learn more about the photographer and his work visit his official website.

By Godlis

I remember that night like it was yesterday. They say a camera stops time, and for me, in this case it’s proven to be true. One-quarter of a second exposure on my handheld Leica IIIf camera back in 1976 has endured via silver and megapixels all these years.

I spent a lot of time in 1976 looking through the French photographer Brassai’s photographs of Paris nightlife in the 1930s, and had worked out a way to shoot photographs at night by natural light without flash. In looking back now, it was all of another time – pushed tri-x film, arcane developing chemicals, nights in the darkroom. But it enabled me to return night after night to CBGB’s with boxes of pictures to show off my experiments to my friends in a budding scene and create my “Documents for Artists.”

It was in between sets when everyone headed out from within CBGB’s, to the raw air under the Bowery streetlights.  Patti Smith was standing in mid-conversation that night, when I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if I could take her photograph. I know I saw the Bleecker Street sign in the background and thought “perfect.” I knew that she was standing in the right spot, under the streetlamps. All the elements were in place. So when she turned my way and brought her hand to her face – I knew in that moment, the photo was mine to have or screw up.  Shooting at night, handheld – no tripod - meant both Patti and I would have to be perfectly still. I did my part that night, and obviously Patti more than did hers. One-quarter of a second stopped forever. Time on my side.

See Godlis's work in the Who Shot Rock & Roll exhibit, currently showing at the Annenberg Space for Photography. To learn more about the photographer and his work visit his official website.

Who Shot Rock & Roll: Live went out with a bang this past Saturday. The third and final show in the free concert series continued to bring people to the Annenberg Space for Photography in the name of art and music.

This concert featured not one but two incredible acts: Raphael Saadiq and Band of Skulls!

Attendees took advantage of the great summer weather in the park just outside of the Photography Space.

KCRW's Anne Litt kicked off the evening's entertainment with a terrific DJ set starting at 7 o'clock.

Everyone was in a great, festive mood - smiles all around!

Think you've seen the Who Shot Rock & Roll photo exhibit? Well, we've just installed a brand new outdoor installation as part of the show. Crowds gathered around the over dozen images peppered in front of the main entrance of the Photography Space.

Saadiq took the stage just after 8 o'clock and put on an amazing show.

He performed a strong, energetic set list with a six-piece band. Wow!

Band of Skulls was up next and the English rockers did not disappoint.

They played some of their big hits such as "Sweet Sour" and "Death by Diamonds and Pearls."

What a way to cap off this concert series! Thanks to our partners over at KCRW but most of thanks to all of you for helping bring the community together for these special events intended to bring awareness to photography, music and all types of art. We hope everyone enjoyed Who Shot Rock & Roll: Live!

(Images by Unique Nicole for the Space)