http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/rockicons3.htm

By KEN CAPOBIANCO
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Great rock 'n' roll photography is almost as important to the myth and lore of the genre as the music itself. Iconographic images of rock stars through the years have made indelible impressions on our consciousness. About three dozen of these photos will be on display in an exhibit opening tomorrow at Dr. Daniel Fisher House in Edgartown.

The exhibit was assembled by Peter Blachly, curator and owner of the Morrison Hotel Gallery in Manhattan. Among the photographers with works included are Jim Marshall, Guy Webster and Lynn Goldsmith, whose work with Bruce Springsteen created some of the most enduring images to emerge out of rock photography in the '70s.

''Anyone who really loves rock and cares about it passionately will find something special in the photographs that will be on display,'' Blachly says. His gallery co-owner is Henry Diltz, who shot the classic photograph that appeared on the cover of the Doors' 1970 album, ''Morrison Hotel.'' The gallery was named after the record.

''The exhibit will feature mostly photographs of the '60s and '70s with artists like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, just to name a few, but they also span into the '80s and '90s up and until the likes of Kurt Cobain,'' says Blachly. ''Many of the photographs people will recognize because they are images that have become part of our shared culture.'' He adds that this is a one-time exhibit that will not go on the road. ''These are all works from the gallery and from the original negatives,'' he adds.

Also included is Vineyard resident and landscape photographer Peter Simon. His work from the '60s and '70s appeared in Rolling Stone and The Village Voice, among other places, as he captured the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and various reggae musicians in classic behind-the-scenes poses. He also shot several album cover photographs, including the memorable picture of his sister Carly for her first record.

''I'm very proud to be included in this exhibit with some of the great rock photographers,'' Simon says. He started out as a photojournalist and says he got more involved in rock photography in the '60s when the music became more sociopolitical. ''I was involved in the counterculture movement, and I was drawn to the music that leaned that way,'' he says. He has a great catalog of shots of the Grateful Dead. ''They hated to have their picture taken, especially if it was posed,'' he says. As with many great photojournalists, Simon's best works are the in-the-moment shots that reveal the details often not glimpsed when a photo is posed. ''I think the spontaneous photographs cut to the truth, and so I tended to the more shoot-from-the-hip, vérité format, and I think it was quite successful.''

Through the years, however, the more formal, highly decorated and glamorized work of the likes of Annie Liebovitz and Herb Ritts became not only more popular but infinitely more lucrative, he notes.

''I think if I moved to that genre of heavy stylization I would have made a great deal more money over the years, because that's the direction magazines like Rolling Stone moved toward and relied on.''

Simon was instrumental in bringing the Morrison Hotel Gallery exhibit to Martha's Vineyard. ''The photographers I'm involved with here are simply the best at what they do, and the depth and breadth of their work is inspiring,'' he says.

Proceeds from prints sold at the exhibit will benefit the Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust, a not-for-profit organization that works to protect island landmarks.

(Published: July 3, 2006)

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