Who Shot Rock 'n' Roll?

Those of you giving Electric R' the Bug Eye from stateside, or for any of you Roulees heading to the East Coast in October, will want to drag your asses to Brooklyn Museum and cast your bubble over the first major museum exhibition devoted exclusively to rock 'n' roll photographers.

‘Who Shot Rock N Roll: A Photographic History’ will be hanging snaps of the super rare and never seen before variety, paying dues to the trigger happy voyeurs who brought their own art form to the rock 'n' roll table, capturing and cataloging our favourite rock stars from ‘55 onwards.

It’s a pretty tasty smorgasbord being offered up, with behind the scenes and early career shots chicken dancing with conceptual images and album artwork classics. Expect to see the original shots from Elvis’ debut, The Clash’s ‘London Calling’ (keep an eye out for Debbie Harry in the background) and Bobby Dylan’s ‘Freewheeling..’ representing the latter, with conceptual images like Albert Watson’s bizzaro Mick Jagger / Leapord metamorphosis print (above) adding a well needed dose of spazzout to the exhibition.

For your 10 Greenbacks you’ll get 175 works by 105 photographers, including iconic photo-names like Diane Arbus and Annie Leibovitz rubbing shoulder with pieces from people like Dennis Hopper, who shot James Brown being mobbed by female admirers back in the day.

Expect images of The Ramones, The Stones, John Lennon, Jimi at Monterey Pop, Grace Jones, Ike and Tina in Memphis, Woodstock and Lennon in New York amongst others, while there will also be slide shows, music vid’s and a rock-and-roll chronology made from album covers to engage your lobes.

Who Shot Rock & Roll will be On View from October 30th, 2009, to January 31st, 2010. Click Here to visit the Brooklyn Museum website.[Sir Marcus Lawry]