Jini Dellaccio
Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock ‘n’ Roll Photographs
Selected by Graham Nash
Chronicle Books
By Charles Bermant
With “Taking Aim,” an exhibit of rock music photography that opened recently at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, guest curator Graham Nash has assembled a selection of pictures that portray the passion and intensity shared by musicians of a certain age.
“Rock and roll is no different from photography, or composing classical music,” Nash said. “You tap into this incredible energy, and use it to create something magical.”
Nash, best known as the skinny part of Crosby, Stills & Nash, has been involved in making pictures since he was ten years old–well before his storied music career began. Since then he has taken thousands of photographs, including people whom which he shared a stage or a personal experience.
After nearly a decade as a museum, this is first time any kind of rock star has been directly involved in creating an EMP exhibit, according to is curatorial director Jasen Emmons, who shepherded the project.
“Graham is as much of an artist as he is a musician,” Emmons said. “He has access to a tremendous amount of fantastic images, and was able to pull together a remarkable collection of photographs by himself and others.”
The exhibit will be at EMP through May, and will subsequently visit three or four other cities, according to Emmons. In the meantime, there is a posh coffee-table volume that has all the included photographs peppered with commentary and context supplied by Nash.
There are a few obvious shots. Annie Liebowitz’s John and Yoko, days before he died. Johnny Cash flipping the bird. Janis Joplin, reflective on a couch with a bottle of Southern Comfort. “She wasn’t the prettiest girl,” said Jim Marshall, who took the picture. “But she wasn’t afraid of the camera. I took another shot 90 minutes after this one, and her mood was 180 degrees in the other direction.”
Most of the pictures are black and white, which the photographers believe is more evocative. Said Nash: “I don’t think in color, I think in black and white. The images are a lot sharper, and more interesting.”
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