Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki presents the popular photographic exhibition, Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 – Present, direct from its United States tour.
Who Shot Rock & Roll has travelled to New Zealand with 173 works from more than 100 photographers and many rare and never-before-exhibited images. Photographers include Diane Arbus, Roberta Bayley, Henry Diltz, Godlis, Dennis Hopper, David LaChappelle, Annie Leibovitz, Linda McCartney and Albert Watson.
Organised by the Brooklyn Museum and curated by photographic historian and author Gail Buckland, Who Shot Rock & Roll is the first museum exhibition to acknowledge photographers for their collaborative and creative role in the history of popular music.
‘This exhibition is not a history of rock-n-roll, but of the men and women who have photographed it and given the music its visual identity,’ says Buckland. ‘From its earliest days, rock-n-roll was captured in photographs that personalised and frequently eroticised musicians. Photographers were handmaidens to the rock-n-roll revolution, and their work communicates the social and cultural transformations that rock helped bring about from the 1950s onwards.’
Who Shot Rock & Roll runs from 10 November for three months. Entry to Auckland Art Gallery’s other exhibitions, including its permanent collection of New Zealand art, and to its Learning Centre and E H McCormick Research Library, remains free.
Take a look at Who Shot Rock & Roll's programme of Open Late events, with live music, guest speakers from the New Zealand scene and more.
Homepage image: Albert Watson, Jagger/Leopard, 1992, gelatin silver print. Private collection.