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Artist to Icon:
Early Photographs of Elvis, Dylan and the Beatles
January 31-June 6, 2004
"Artist to Icon," on view at the National Heritage Museum from January 31 through June 6, 2004, provided a glimpse into the lives of aspiring artists Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Bob Dylan, before they took on the role of rock 'n' roll legends. The exhibition included 48 rarely-seen black-and-white photographs -- documented by five photographers -- each seizing the moment when these individuals' talents and styles were coming together as voices of cultural change. The photographers -- Alfred Werthheimer, Astrid Kirchherr, Jurgen Vollmer, Max Scheler, and Daniel Kramer -- captured the innocence, ambition, and unbounded adventure of rock 'n' roll's first decade.
Photos of Elvis Presley, taken by Alfred Werthheimer in 1956, included a shot of Presley waiting with his band in the Grand Concourse of New York's Pennsylvania station without attracting much attention. Another showed him seated inside the train, intently listening to an acetate of his revious recording session. A shirtless Presley was also pictured listening to "Don't Be Cruel" in his parents' living room with high-school sweetheart, Barbara Hearn.
Early shots of the Beatles included original members Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe. In the "Beatles in Hamburg" series, Astrid Kirchher captured George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, along with Best and Sutcliffe, performing to rowdy crowds in places like the Kaiserkeller Club, popular with young German existentialists. Jurgen Vollmer presented a long exposure of Lennon in a doorway and a motion-blurred McCartney, Harrison, and Sutcliffe walking by. Photographer Max Scheler captured the impact the Beatles had on post-war British youth as he spent time in Liverpool and London to capture the Beatlemania phenomenon.
Daniel Kramer was granted access to Bob Dylan during a crucial phase in his career, the summer of 1964 and 1965--the year that marked his controversial transition from acclaimed folk poet to venturesome electric rock artist. Kramer captured Dylan in an early recording session for the album Bringing it All Back Home, and backstage before a gig in Philadelphia, with road manager Victor Maymudes listening on the sidelines. Kramer watched as Dylan experimented with electric guitars, documenting the beginnings of a musical revolution.
"Artist to Icon: Early Photographs of Elvis, Dylan, and the Beatles" was been organized and developed by Experience Music Project.
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