Here We Go: The "BEST" of Everything Photography 2015

The lists begin earlier every year: everyone's photography "Best of" lists. As 2015 comes to a close, below is what has become an annual tradition: our compilation of what the web selected as the "best" of all things photography 2015. Check back frequently as we update through the end of the year.    Updated 1/1/16


The New York Times: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Top 10 Lists


Photographs

The Week: The year's best photojournalism

Slate: The Five Best Photo Stories You Might Have Missed This Year 

TIME: In Memoriam: Remembering the Photographers We Lost in 2015

pdn: The Year’s Top 10 Photo of the Day Posts

LensCulture: Documentary Photography: Important Stories from 2015

The White House: Behind the Lens: 2015 Year in Photographs
                               By Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer

BBC: Getty Images year in focus

UN News Centre: 2015 in pictures

LiveMint: Mint’s best photos of 2015

The Best WIRED Photo Stories of the Year

BBC: Year in pictures 2015

NBC: The Year in Space Pictures: 2015

The New York Times Magazine’s Best Photos of 2015

The Guardian: The best of the wildlife photography awards 2015 - in pictures

Boston Globe: The Big Picture 2015 Year in Pictures: Part I

                         2015 Year in Pictures: Part II

The Guardian: Five fake photos that went viral in 2015

news.com.au: The most powerful, newsworthy images of 2015

Tech Insider: The 50 most unforgettable photos of 2015

ABC News: Year In Review: Best News Photos of 2015

Pulitzer Center: 2015: A Year in Photos

The Guardian: The best photographs of 2015 – in pictures

BBC: UK year in pictures: 2015

Aperture’s 2015 Year in Review

The Guardian: The 20 photographs of the year

Vantage: The Best Street Photographer In San Francisco 2015: Troy Holden

The National: Year in review 2015: The pictures of the year

The Guardian: Stories behind the pictures of 2015: January to March

                        Stories behind the pictures of 2015: April to June

                        Stories behind the pictures of 2015: July to September
                    
                        Stories behind the pictures of 2015: October to December

The Independent: National Geographic unveils the 'photo of the day' top images for 2015

The Guardian: The best photographs of America 2015 – in pictures

Politico Europe: Most powerful photographs of 2015

NBC: The Year in Pictures: 2015 See the most powerful images of the year.

The Telegraph's photographers choose their favourite pictures of 2015

The National: Best business pictures of the year 2015

LA Times: 2015 World and Nation | The year in Pictures

The Guardian: The best portraits of 2015 – in pictures

PetaPixel: The Best iPhone Photos of 2015 by President Obama’s Official Photographer

CBS: 2015: The year in pictures

Rolling Stone's Best Photos of 2015

USA Today: The 26 best sports photos of 2015

CNN: Best travel photos of 2015

Esquire: The Best Drone Photos of 2015

The Guardian: National Geographic's best travel photos of 2015 – in pictures


The Guardian: Magnum photographers' best shots of 2015 – in pictures

PDN Pulse: Top Photo News Stories of 2015

Fortune’s Year in Photos

Euro News: 2015: the year in photos

amNY: Empire State Building 2015 year in photos

NJ.com: N.J. prom photos of 2015

The Globe and Mail: The Year in Photos: Events from around the world

The Globe and Mail: The Year in Photos: The best images from Globe and Mail photographer John Lehmann

USA TODAY's best photographs of 2015  (YouTube)

Reuters: 2015 Humanitarian year in pictures

Santafe.org:   The Top Ten Santa Fe Instagram Photos of 2015

Telegraph: Weird, funny and bizarre photos of the year: Part 1

                 Weird, funny and bizarre photos of the year: Part 2

New York Times Lens:  The Story Behind The Times’s Year in Pictures

Vogue UK: This Year In Pictures - 2015

TASS: Best Photos of 2015

The New York Times: 2015’s best graphics, visualizations and multimedia stories from The Times

CBS: The year in Google search 2015: the Top 30 News Subjects

Guardian photographer of the year 2015: Yannis Behrakis

BBC: Travel Photographer of the Year

CNET: Best science stories of 2015 (pictures)

VII 2015 Year in Review

The New Yorker: Our Favorite Documentary Photographs of 2015

The New York Times: The Year in Pictures 2015

The Guardian: Eyewitness: Guardian agency photographer of the year

The Guardian: 2015: Eyewitness accounts of the year’s most defining moments

Los Angeles Times: A Year in Focus | 2015

CNET's best photos of 2015

The Creators Project: [Best of 2015] The Year in Photography

Proof: Pictures We Love: Seeing Science

The Atlantic: The Most Powerful Images of 2015

Nature: 365 days: The best science images of 2015

MSNBC: This year in pictures: The best images from 2015

Baltimore Sun: 2015 Baltimore Sun pictures of the year

Gulf News: 2015 in review: The best photographs of the year

The Creator's Project: [Best of 2015] The Year in Photography

Huffington Post UK: Pictures Of The Year: The 12 Most Defining Photos Of 2015

Popular Science: The Best Science And Tech Images Of 2015

Wall Street Journal: Offbeat Images From 2015

Mirror: 2015 in incredible pictures: 28 stunning and spectacular photographs from across the globe

TIME’s Best Photojournalism of 2015

The Guardian: Sean O'Hagan's top 10 photography shows of 2015

USA Today: Image of crying children in migrant crisis wins UNICEF photo of the year

Euro News: 2015: The year in photos

The Telegraph: Weird, funny and bizarre photos of the year: Part 1

The Independent: The most stunning drone photos of 2015

Chicago Tribune's 2015 Photos of the Year

Christian Science Monitor: Our best photos of the year 2015

Business Insider: The 37 strangest photos of 2015

Mashable: The Best Photos of 2015

Twitter: Best Photos of 2015

The 405: In Photos of the Year: 2015 Special

NOOR: Best of 2015

ABC News: AP PHOTOS: Top Pictures in 2015 From Europe and Africa

Belfast Telegraph: Best images of 2015 by Press Association photographers

TIME Picks the Top 10 Photos of 2015

PhotoShelter: How Memorable are TIME’s Top 10 Photos of the Year?

BBC: The best images of 2015 by Press Association photographers

USA Today: 2015: The year in pictures

USA Today: Best USA TODAY photos of 2015

Alessandro Penso is TIME’s Pick for Photo Story of the Year

Velo News: Photo Essay: Best of 2015 — Battles and attacks

Wall Street Journal: Year in Photos 2015

BBC: Picture power: Eight photographers on their best image of 2015

Telegraph:  Pictures of the year: January, February and March 2015
                  
                    Pictures of the year: April, May and June 2015

                   Pictures of the year: July, August and September 2015

                   Pictures of the year: October, November and December 2015

Crave: Year In Focus: The Best Sports Photographs of 2015

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The Best of 2015 Photojournalism by J.B. Forbes

 AAJ News: Top 10 pictures that remain In the news throughout the year 2015

News One: 21 Of President Barack Obama's Best Photos Of 2015

Mashable: These are the 10 worst selfies of 2015

InformationWeek: NASA's 10 Best Images Of 2015

CBS: Entertainment photos of the year

Tech Insider: 12 of the most breathtaking drone photos of 2015

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Stacy Kranitz Is TIME’s Pick for Instagram Photographer of the Year 2015

Daily Star: Pictures of the Year 2015

Bloomberg's Best Photos of 2015

Independent: 95 incredible pictures that sum up 2015

Washington Post: The stories behind some of this year’s fascinating photos

The Guardian: Pictures of the year: January, February and March 2015

The Atlantic: 2015: The Year in Photos, January-April

                       2015: The Year in Photos, May-August

                      2015: The Year in Photos, September-December

Business Insider: The best US military pictures of 2015

The Atlantic: Top 25 News Photos of 2015

The Atlantic: Hopeful Images From 2015

The Big Picture: The best Boston Globe photos of 2015

NY Post: The 100 Best Photos of 2015

AP Photos Top 100 News Images of 2015

TIME Picks the Top 100 Photos of 2015

TIME Picks the Top Magazine Covers of 2015

Boston Globe: The best Boston Globe photos of 2015

BGR: The most incredible and jaw-dropping photos from 2015

Buzzfeed: 18 Pictures From 2015 Guaranteed To Make You Sad

Rock and Ice: Photos of the Year 2015

Reverb: The best concert photos of 2015

weather.com's Top Photos of 2015

Outdoors: Best Outdoor Photographs Of The Year 2015

Super Sport: Golf year in Pictures: 2015

Dayton Business Journal: The Year In Pictures 2015

CNN: 2015: The Year in Pictures

Reuters: Pictures of the Year 2015

PhotoShelter Blog: 45 Reasons to Love Photography 2015

The Denver Post: A selection of Agence France-Presse photos of the year 2015

The New York Times: The Best in Art of 2015

National Geographic: The Pictures We Loved in 2015

TIME: The 50 most Instagrammed places in America

The Guardian: Photographer of the year – 2015 shortlist: atrocities in Paris and Syria, bodybuilders in Palestine

TIME  Picks the Best Wire Photographer of 2015

PetaPixel: The Top Photos and Cameras on Flickr in 2015

The Arizona Republic: Year in Review 2015: David Wallace photography

CBC:  The Canadian stories behind the best wildlife photos of 2015

FUSE: Photos of the Year: The Best & Memorable Pics of 2015

The Guardian: Wildlife photographer of the year 2015 winners - in pictures

Emirates 24/7 World's Best? Pictures that made 2015 the 'Year of the Photograph'

Audubon: 2015 Audubon Photography Awards Top 100


Photo Books

The FlakPhoto Photography Booklist is here to help

Elizabeth Avedon: BEST PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS of 2015....and Some Honorable Mentions

The Daily Beast: The Best Photography Books of 2015

The New York Times Magazine: The Best Photo Books of 2015

Prison Photography: Six Books Pete Picked Up This Year and Liked

Vogue: Picturing the American South: The Year’s Best Photo Books Reveal a Vast Portrait

The Daily Beast: The Best Photography Books of 2015

The Guardian: Shōji Ueda: the most beautiful, surprising photobook of the year

Telegraph: The best art photography books of 2015

Slate: The 10 Best Photography Books of 2015

Evening Standard: The best photography books of 2015

Conscientious Photo Magazine:  My favourite photobooks in 2015 (and more)

American Photo: Best Photo Books of the year 2015

photo-eye:  Best Books of 2015

1000 Words editor Tim Clark looks back over the year’s photo book releases: Top ten: the best photo books of 2015

Photo District News: Notable Photo Books of 2015: Part 1

The Guardian: The best photography books of 2015

blakeandrewsblog: It's that time of year again. Christmas lights are out. A chill is in the air. And the annual photobook list parade has begun

Smithsonian.com:  The Best Photography Books of the Year

atsushisaito.blog: Best Photobooks of 2015

photolia: Lists of the Best Photobooks of 2015

PhotoBookstore Magazine: Photobooks of 2015

TIME Picks the Best Photobooks of 2015

The Wall Street Journal: The Best Books for Photography Lovers

Fotokritik: The Best Photobooks of the Year (This one is a must read!)

theloggingroad:13 Best Photobooks and 2 Worst Photobooks of the Year 2015: And There is the Cosmos, to Capture Her Soul

Crave: The Top 7 Photography Books of the 21st Century (So Far)


Media and Miscellaneous

PDN: Top Gear Stories of 2015

Poynter: A look at the front pages of 2015

Don't Take Pictures: The Best of 2015's "Best Of" Lists

PDN: Some (Mostly) Fun Photo Stats for 2015

Newseum: Remembering the Journalists We Lost

Popular Photography Camera of the Year 2015: The Nominees

CNET: The 20 most interesting cameras of 2015 (pictures)

Columbia Journalism Review: The best and worst journalism of 2015

British Journal of Photography: Winners of the BJP International Photography Awards 2016 announced

Poynter: #LoveWins, #BlackLivesMatter, #JeSuisCharlie among the news that dominated Twitter in 2015



Remember when? Here is "The Best" of yesteryear, 2014.

Nationally recognized photographer Stephen Wilkes has turned his lens to our national parks, commemorating their 100th anniversary

‘Herculean’ process produces ‘Day to Night’ images of national parks

Stephen Wilkes: Grand Canyon National Park, Day To Night, 2015

Via The Albuquerqe Journal
By Kathaleen Roberts / Journal Staff Writer
Sunday, December 20th, 2015

Invisible layers of time move Old Faithful from sunrise to sunset, ringed by a walkway of people rendered microscopic by its grandeur.

Nationally recognized photographer Stephen Wilkes has turned his lens to our national parks, commemorating their 100th anniversary in four-page gateway covers in both the January 2016 national and international issues of National Geographic. Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography is showcasing the works beginning Saturday through Jan. 10, 2016.

Wilkes focused his discerning eye on Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, as well as the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and Tanzania’s Serengeti.

What may appear to be time-lapse photography at first glance actually isn’t, Wilkes maintained.

Stephen Wilkes: Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Day to Night, 2015

(Slide Show Link)

WHAT: “Day to Night,” photographs by Stephen Wilkes
WHEN: Opening 5-7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 26; 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday; Runs through Jan. 10
WHERE: Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe
HOW MUCH: Free. Call 505-992-0800 or visit monroegallery.com

Working from a fixed camera angle, he captures the fleeting play of shadow and light as the sun shifts from dawn to dark. A single print may coalesce from 1,500 to 2,300 images. He uses a large format digital camera.

“I photograph from a single perspective, usually elevated, anywhere from 12 to 30 hours without moving my camera,” Wilkes said in a telephone interview from his Connecticut home.

“It’s quite Herculean. I’m actually studying a place for 30 hours.”

Launched in 2009, the parks project is an offshoot of a similar body of work on cities. He edits and blends the images into seamless works of art in post-production, a process that takes about a month.

“I look for very iconic places where everybody goes, ‘I’ve been there,'” he explained. “These places are part of our collective memory. When I do that, some kind of magic happens. Time becomes compressed.”

Stephen Wilkes: Yosemite, Tunnel View, Day To Night 2014

At Yellowstone, he photographed Old Faithful from the old crow’s nest atop the inn of the same name, capturing both the sun and the moon peaking above the foothills.

“It’s the most active place on the planet geologically,” Wilkes said. “It goes off every 90 minutes. When you look at that picture, you realize the enormity of just how big it is.”

Long a fan of the Hudson River School painter Albert Bierstadt, famous for his highly romanticized views of the West, Wilkes thought he could never capture the artist’s sweeping aesthetic.

“He painted it from the opposite view,” Wilkes said. “It was if I was channeling him at that moment. Yosemite is as close to being a religious experience as a landscape. When you look at the people in that photograph you realize how insignificant we are as a species.”

In Washington, he spent his preparation time following the cherry blossom handlers checking the petals for signs of peak bloom. Wilkes photographed them between the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial using an 80-foot crane.

Stephen Wilkes

Cherry Blossoms, National Mall and Memorial Parks, Day to Night, Washington D.C., 2015

The Serengeti offered a breakthrough, both aesthetically and philosophically. Wilkes arrived during the peak migration of the wildlife, but the animals had stopped due to a five-week drought. He began studying a watering hole and waited in hope. He had no idea if any creatures would appear.

“We started at 2 a.m. with an 18-foot platform with a crocodile blind,” he said. “We essentially became invisible.”

He witnessed something miraculous. The creatures arrived slowly, carefully taking turns without fighting over the precious resource.

“All these competitive species shared water,” Wilkes said. “It sort of speaks to you. They say the single resource we’ll go to war over is water. We have to hear what the animals know already.”

Stephen Wilkes: Serengeti, Tanzania, Day to Night, 2015

Wilkes came to New Mexico last fall to check out the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. He plans to return and shoot the most photographed event in the world next year.

-- Stephen Wilkes Day To Night photographs will be exhibited by Monroe Gallery at the photola fair, January 21 - 24, 2016.

See the National Geographic article on-line here.

Remembering Frank Sinatra on the centennial anniversary of his birth on December 12, 1915

Sid Avery: Frank Sinatra at a Capitol Records recording session in 1958

 ©mptvimages

Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on December 12, 1915, Frank Sinatra rose to fame singing big band numbers. In the '40s and '50s, he had a dazzling array of hit songs and albums and went on to appear in dozens of films, winning a supporting actor Oscar for From Here to Eternity. He left behind a massive catalog of work that includes iconic tunes like "Love and Marriage," "Strangers in the Night," "My Way" and "New York, New York." He died on May 14, 1998 in Los Angeles, California.

Photographs of Frank Sinatra are featured in the exhibition "The Broke The Mold", though January30, 2016. The new book, "Frank Sinatra: The Photographs" is also available from the gallery.


LIFE: Frank Sinatra’s Life in Photos

Frank Sinatra Official Website

STEPHEN WILKES DAY TO NIGHT FEATURE IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Stephen Wilkes Day To Night photograph of Yosemite National Park will be a special three-page gateway fold out cover for the January issue of National Geographic, highlighting a special tribute to the 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service. Inside, several other of Wilkes’ Day To Night photographs of  the National Parks are featured over 16 pages, including the National Mall and Memorial Park, Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park; and the Grand Canyon, as well as Serengeti, Tanzania.

Simultaneously, Wilkes stunning Day To Night photograph of Serengeti in Tanzania will be the cover for the January, 2016 issue of the International edition of National Geographic, an extraordinary double cover exposure for a photographer.

Day to Night is an ongoing global photographic project that began in 2009. Working from a fixed camera angle, Wilkes captures the fleeting moments of humanity and light as time passes. After 24 hours of photographing and over 1500 images taken, he selects the best moments of the day and night. Using time as a guide, all of these moments are seamlessly blended into a single photograph in post-production.

"Anything one can imagine one can create. Over the last several years, photographic technology has evolved to a point where anything is possible. I imagined changing time in a single photograph. I began to explore this fascination with time in a new series of photographs called: “Day to Night”. –Stephen Wilkes

Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, will host a Holiday reception celebrating the special feature of Stephen Wilkes’ "Day To Night" photographs in the January, 2016 issues of National Geographic. The public reception will be on Saturday, December 26, from 5 - 7 PM. A special selection of Wilkes’ Day To Night photographs will be on exhibit through January 10, 2016.

A Saturday Read

Today's UK Guardian has an editorial by photojournalist Stuart Franklin, "In a world of words, pictures still matter".

The article is accompanied by "A striking selection of images that have helped to change history".



Related exhibition: History's Big Picture

BOOKS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

The gallery has a selection of photography books available for the Holidays.

Sinatra: The Photographs
Hardcover: 224 pages
Signed by Andrew Horwick: $50

"An impromptu gig with Nat King Cole, goofing around with the Rat Pack, chatting with George Harrison … the new book Sinatra: The Photographs captures the Chairman’s heydey as an entertainer, with rarely seen shots from the 1940s to the early 70s on set and in the studio."

 

Bliss:  Transformational Festivals & the Neo Hippie

By Steve Schapiro, signed by Steve Schapiro

Hardcover: 256 pages

$60

 

 

 

The Beatles: Six Days that Changed the World. February 1964

By Bill Eppridge, editor Adrianne Aurichio

Signed by Adrianne Aurichio

Hardcover: 160 pages

$29.95

 

A Time It Was: Bobby Kennedy in the Sixties

By Bill Eppridge

Hardcover: 192 pages  (out of print)

$35

 

 

LIFE The Day Kennedy Died: Fifty Years Later: LIFE Remembers the Man and the Moment

Signed by LIFE Editor Richard Stolley

Hardcover: 192 pages
$50

 

THEY BROKE THE MOLD at Monroe Gallery of Photography

Sid Avery: Frank Sinatra With Camera, Capitol Records, 1954, gelatin silver print

©mptvimages

Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, 505-992-0800

Via Pasatiempo
The New Mexican's Weekly Magazine of Arts, Entertainment & Culture
Friday, November 27, 2015


In advance of crooner Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday on Dec. 12, Monroe presents They Broke the Mold, an exhibit of classic photographs of musicians, singers, and entertainers by Steve Schapiro, Don Hunstein, Sid Avery, and others. The exhibit includes iconic images of Sinatra, Bob Dylan, The Supremes, Louis Armstrong, and Miles Davis, to name a few, and coincides with the recent publication of Sinatra: The Photographs by Andy Howick.  They Broke the Mold opens Friday, Nov. 27, with a 5 p.m. reception.

A Rock and Roll Thanksgiving, 1969

Amalie R. Rothschild: Janis and Tina, Madison Square Garden, November 27, 1969

"This is possibly my favorite picture and certainly my best known photograph. I convinced one of the security guys to help me get a good position and I used my 300mm lens. It was Thanksgiving Day and Bill Graham, as usual, gave a dinner at the Fillmore East for the whole staff and “Fillmore Family.” Janis was in NY and all alone, so she joined us. We had tickets for the Rolling Stones concert later that evening at the Garden and we all went together. Ike and Tina Turner were the opening act and at some point Tina noticed Janis at the side of the stage and invited her up to sing a number with her. I think this is the only time they sang together and I wish I could remember what the song was." -- Amalie R. Rothschild

 Join us Friday, Nov 27 from 5 – 7 for the opening reception for “They Broke The Mold”, an extensive exhibition of classic photographs of ground-breaking and important singers and entertainers.

Related: Brian Hamill writes about The Rolling Stones

Photojournalist Brian Hamill on The Rolling Stones

Several photographs by Brian Hamill are included in the current exhibition "They Broke The Mold". In this article for the Huffington Post, Brian recalls the 1960s and the Rolling Stones.

Via The Huffington Post
November 20, 2015
by Brian Hamill

Let It Bleed, Bro: The Rolling Stones Take the Sixties By Storm

The sixties were -- mostly -- way cool.

 Lights and darks. Highs and lows. Cheers and tears. Always, excitement.
Despite the roller-coaster extremes of what was going on, those of us who partied hard in that decade will always remember it as the best of times. And the worst of times.

This generation is sick of hearing all that. I can dig it. But those of us who lived it have it carved in stone in our collective memories. A lot of shit went down. It wasn't just our long hair. We didn't need technological devices that the "Looking-Down" (at cell phones) generation of today depend upon to function. Technology is their new drug, adding layers of distance from face to face real-life, and creating anxiety with "social media" pressure.

We looked into each other's blood-shot eyes and spoke live.
We didn't need to look at a screen to know how to act.
We believed in a form of hip chaos.
We didn't worry about ending sentences with a preposition.
"Where the party at?"

My crew was: diddy- boppin', finger-poppin', jukin', jivin', dancin', table-hoppin', joint-sharin', bar-hoppin', club goin', fun-lovin' protest-marchin' motherfuckers.

 We didn't need no stinking cellphones!!

Let the music roll now.

Sinatra, Elvis, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, The Isley Brothers, and lots of Doo-Wop were in my music stash as the decade began.

In the fall of 1963, Marvin Gaye released a single, "Can I get a Witness". My man Marvin was totally cool. I listened to that 45-R.P.M. several times a day during my freshman year at college. I will listen to him until the day I throw a seven.

Two months later, on November 22nd, President JFK was assassinated by a crummy stooge. The nation was shocked and saddened. We all remember where we were when it happened.

The Beatles exploded on the set too. NYC was like, WOW! The nation was like, WOW! We dug them to the hilt. In a small way they helped lessen the pain of our president's murder. On February 9, 1964 we all got to see them perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. Another WOW!

In my hood in Brooklyn, they helped turn dudes, me included, from hitters into hippies. Bob Dylan reinforced that vibe with great songs of protest like, "Blowin' in the Wind," and "The Times They Are a Changin". He was "our" poet. A definite WOW!

Another big event of 1964 was the first Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston fight on February 24th in Miami. We saw Ali (then Cassius Clay) put a ti-fi ass whuppin' on the Big Ugly Bear. My crowd was jubilant. We loved him. We still do. Ali is one of the truly great Americans and the most iconic person I have had the privilege to photograph.

In July, there was a riot in Harlem a few days after a cop shot and killed a 15-year-old black kid in the east 70's during a lame incident and a questionable confrontation. It was a long, hot summer afterward.

Then came the Rolling Stones.

Also in 1964, while working a summer gig as a copy-boy at the NY Post, my co-worker Fred Waitzkin (who is now a gifted, distinguished author) pulled my coat to The Rolling Stones. I had heard them on the radio, but I was still all over The Beatles and Dylan to pay them "no-never-mind". The next day after our Stones convo Fred brought in the Rolling Stones' recently released first album, "The Rolling Stones". The cover photograph provoked my interest.

They looked bad. The old school Brooklyn in me liked that look. Fred implored me to get a copy.

To this day, I am indebted to Fred's fabulous taste in music. The Stones did awesome rockin' covers of songs from America's wonderful, under-appreciated, black blues artists. The album still rocks my soul. The Stones most definitely mined the U.S.A. for much of their creative inspiration and to honor those legends like Muddy Waters whose material they covered.

In late October 1964, I took the subway to E 14th Street to cop a pair of kicks. It was an early Saturday afternoon and in those days, E 14th between 3rd and 4th Avenues had at least ten shoe stores to explore and I was a shoe freak. I was very down with the block as well, having trained as a teenage fighter there at the storied Gramercy Gym run by the legendary boxing guru Cus D'Amato who made Floyd Patterson, Jose Torres and Mike Tyson into world champions. From 1960-1962, I was taught the boxing skills and discipline of Cus's style by the brilliant boxing trainer Joey Fariello.
The Gramercy stable-mates often watched championship fights on closed-circuit TV next door at The Academy of Music. As I started eye-tapping the parade of shoes in each store window, I gazed up at the Academy marquee: The Rolling Stones -- 2:00 and 7 PM.

In those days I lived on very short dough, barely enough to buy the European shoes I dug. I walked in my worn shoes to the box-office and confirmed that the Stones were playing an afternoon gig. As I recall, a ticket was a pricey $6.00. (Stones freaks can check the internet). I decided to score the shoes.

As I started to descend the subway steps after my shoe purchase, with less than ten dollars left to my name, I heard Mick Jagger's voice in my head singing his cover of "I Just Want to Make Love to You". Later for Brooklyn. I ran back up the subway stairs and I took my impulsive young ass, and my new kicks into the Academy of Music to see The Rolling Stones.

The joint was half-empty.

Mick Jagger moved around the stage like an epileptic chicken but the dude was dazzling. He sang like a champ. The band played an energizing, unpolished yet mesmerizing combo of blues and rock. Jagger did not have James Brown's moves, but he displayed a certain uninhibited moving, stage-mastery that made one believe the man could actually dance. Put all those elements together with heartfelt, powerful songs and I knew I had just witnessed a sensational show. I can't remember what those 14th Street/European shoes looked like, but I'll never forget the Rolling Stones at The Academy of Music. Their future was stretched out in front of them.

It was a bright one.

My Stones jones began after watching that gig and it has lasted a lifetime.

On February 21st, 1965 Malcolm X got assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in NYC. He was only 39 years old. They arrested, tried, and convicted three people for his murder. Another sterling leader with vision was gone too soon. That following summer, I was trying on a pair of shoes in Bloom's in the Village on 6th Avenue next to the Waverly theater when a gorgeous girl with long blonde hair, and a long white dress holding a large bouquet of flowers came up to me, and handed me a beauty and said:"Flower Power", and hit me with a big, radiant smile. I smiled back, speechless. It was a serenity moment.

But it would not last for too long.

I was listening to a lot of Motown including Smokey, The Temps, Mary Wells, Marvin, Martha and the Vandellas. I was just layin' in the cut when I heard about the Watts riot in LA. It was a different kind of "Dancin' in the Streets".

During the summer of love in 1967, Hippie Hill in Prospect Park where we hung out attracted hundreds of people not only from other hoods, but from other states! It was a cool outdoor party day and night.

Lots of my friends, including me, had gotten drafted into the "green-machine" (US ARMY) in 1966. A chunk of them went to Vietnam including my kid bother Johnny and my best friend GR (George Ryan). Luckily, I didn't. I was still able to do the hippie scene traveling home from my Army base on many weekends minus my long hair. Most neighborhood 'Nam dudes came back to the world. Sadly, a few didn't. Several of those who returned had emotional guilt-ridden thoughts, vivid nightmares, and panic attacks that were later characterized as PTSD. It was disturbing to witness. Some still suffer from that serious illness. It is truly a drag. I got out of the "green-machine" in April, 1968. But a week before I was discharged, Martin Luther King was murdered by a racist creep. I remember my mother crying on the phone about Dr. King right after his murder.

Another strong, peaceful leader was gone.

Six weeks after that I was in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in LA with my camera when Bobby Kennedy got assassinated on June 5th, 1968 by a young fanatic with two first names. I had just walked right past this bum before he pulled out the gun. It was the worst night of my young life. I spent the next month after that horrible night hanging out in Laguna Beach listening to music, drinking beer, smoking weed, looking at beautiful surfer girls, just trying to cool out and maintain.
On July 18th, 1969 Teddy Kennedy had an alcohol-influenced car accident but did the wrong thing right after at Chappaquiddick. A special young woman died.

On August 9th, 1969 the jailhouse punk Charles Manson manipulated some of his stupid, idolatry-prone, and acid-laced minions to go from the Spahn ranch in the desert to LA to murder "rich people" and ended up slaughtering a cluster of decent, nice people including an eight-and-a-half-month pregnant woman named Sharon Tate. That swine Manson had the nerve to use a Beatle song (Helter Skelter) to swindle the minds of his fucked-up followers. That whole deal wigged me out. The whole nation shuttered behind it.

Yeah, the sixties had its casualties. It wasn't all a cool party.

A few days later I landed in Woodstock -- the festival -- not the actual town. I needed the "peace and serenity" and, of course, the wonderful music, but equally important the four hundred thousand people who shared the fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime event with me, including GR and about twenty other people from my Brooklyn neighborhood.

We just had a ball -- that's all.

At around the same time, Richard Nixon was slithering around the White House already adding names to his "enemies list," the dirty tricks were in action, and the "Peace with Honor" jive was getting swallowed by the Silent Majority while the real "silent majority" were the dead Americans in Vietnam.

The "Summer of Love" was a fading memory.

On November 15th, 1969 I found myself in front of the White House with a group of friends and a couple of my brothers at the Moratorium March on Washington where we further protested the Vietnam War. It was like the Woodstock of protest marches among another half million people demanding that Nixon should end the war. It fell on deaf ears.

There were three New York miracles in 1969.

First, the Amazin' Mets won the World Series. Then Joe Namath's white kicks danced the Jets to a Super-Bowl triumph.

The third miracle happened forty-six years ago today. On Thanksgiving night, November 27th, 1969, The Rolling Stones held their first Madison Square Garden Concert. The Stones had moved from the half-full Academy of Music just five years earlier to a sold-out arena holding twenty thousand people. I photographed that astounding show from the lip of the stage. It was a ringside seat to history. I was in the right place at the right time. I was lucky. The Stones kicked out the jams with a wild, foot-stomping, "Jumpin' Jack Flash". The audience went crazy! The Stones were in superlative form.

Jagger bounced on stage wearing an Uncle Sam hat, and that man's hat was where he was at! He had on a black outfit with an eye-catching design on his chest (a Leo sign, an Omega sign, take your pick, freaks). The dramatic lights illuminated the silver studs up the seams of his skinny pants. He sported a studded black choker and a crimson colored scarf around his long neck. He looked as bad as he wanted to be! He was dancing' and prancin' and singing his young ass off! That night, at 27 years old, Jagger owned legitimate self-confidence, youthful soul, and the non-stop vitality of a star for the rock and roll ages. He was like a human tornado, spinning back and forth across the stage belting out that great bluesy voice that has always distinguished him from other white singers. But Jagger had big help from the magic and the music of the great rock and roll band with him -- Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and newcomer Mick Taylor. They took rock music to another level, the same way Ali did wonders for boxing -- excuse me, they were the Rolling Stones. They were not just an appendage to Jagger's lead singer deal; the four dudes with him were all immensely talented.
Ladies and gentleman, the Rolling Stones, turned the joint out!

They owned the Garden. They opened the noses of a multitude of women in the audience. Some dudes too.

Their sound system was more sophisticated and the lighting was cooler and the set list was a combo of terrific songs from the Beggars Banquet album and new ones from the soon-to-be-released Let It Bleed album, including the opera-like "Midnight Rambler" with two fabulous Chuck Berry songs ("Carol" and "Little Queenie") and their own classic, "Satisfaction", thrown into the superb mix. But they still had that unpolished raw energy from the Academy of Music that will be forever young and fun and bad ass. Some critics have said that the political turmoil that went down during the decade motivated the new darker, Let It Bleed lyrics. They were certainly more provocative and edgy. Whatever the inspiration, the evolving Jagger/Richards writing team displayed more creative, complex, and profound songs. That night in the Garden, the Stones reached a pinnacle in Rock and Roll history with this thrilling, mind-blowing concert. Period.

They OUTWOWED all previous live performances by anyone I had ever seen before or since. They turned my head!

As a matter of fact, it was a gas.














All Photographs ©Brian Hamill

Grey Villet: last overland cattle drive from Cedar Butte, South Dakota, to northern Nebraska

Via Colorado Central Magazine

A Docent Out of Retirement

Photographer Grey Villet had a saying: “Every story should be as real as real could get.”

Grey was an award-winning lensman for Life magazine back in the 1960s, and he never had any idea that someday I’d be representing his photos at the annual Art for the Sangres here in Westcliffe.

Each year the San Isabel Land Protection Trust organizes Art for the Sangres as its major fundraiser for the year. The annual art sale brings together artists of many mediums from all over the country, as well as locally, to raise funds for land and water conservation in Southern Colorado. Celebrating its 20th year in 2015, San Isabel has administered 128 conservation easements protecting 40,000 acres of land, 174 water rights and 61 miles of stream frontage.

In recent years I had served as a docent at the art sale. The first year I had represented the paintings of my friend and neighbor Lorie Merfeld-Batson. The next year I was the docent for JG Moore, a bronze sculptor from Colorado’s eastern plains.

But last year I’d begged off the volunteer role as it took up a lot of time during what is typically one of the nicest-weather weekends of the year. And this year I’d pretty much decided to do the same. But I sure did miss the party, easily one of the biggest social events of the year in Custer County.
Then my friend Peter Hedberg contacted me regarding the art sale. Peter is a benefactor of the land trust and had convinced organizers to include a collection of photography called “The Last Cattle Drive” taken in 1960 by Villet, who passed in 2000. Villet’s wife Barbara represents his work. The couple met when she was also working at Life as a writer.

“Roundup” by Grey Villet. Photo courtesy Barbara Villet

 

 

Peter wanted to know if I’d be interested in representing this photo display, along with Barbara; meanwhile I’d been notified by the land trust that a docent had canceled if I wanted to fill in. Peter invited me to his office to view the photos.

This photo essay documented what would prove to be the last overland cattle drive of more than 1,000 animals from Cedar Butte, South Dakota, to northern Nebraska. Over the course of that week, Grey captured the beauty of the rolling grasslands of the Great Plains, as well as the grit and determination of the men who were desperately holding tight to their waning lifestyle of self-reliance. The stunning and historic collection is currently on display at the Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe.

“What attracted me to this was it’s not just the land but images of man interacting with the land, and that is what San Isabel is trying to preserve,” Peter said. “It’s a great narrative, and it’s different from anything the art show has ever done.”

I was immediately taken by the scope and range of the photos. What’s more, I recognized the black-and-white techniques from my early days in photography – I immediately knew Grey had used Kodak Tri-X film, for example, and could tell how the images had been burned and dodged under the enlarger. I was fascinated with the pictures and the sense of photojournalism.

It turns out Grey also never took a posed photo, used only natural light and – get this – never even cropped a single image. Each print was made to the same exact dimension as a 35mm negative.
Grey, born in South Africa in 1927, also had a way of capturing more than just cowboys. The celebrated photojournalist and recipient of many major photography awards also took historically significant photographs of people like John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Richard Nixon. He photographed Fidel Castro’s triumphant ride into Havana, and Jackie Robinson stealing home in the 1955 World Series. His masterpiece Life photo essay “The Loving Story” documented the story of Mildred and Richard Loving, whose case became a landmark civil rights decision by the United States Supreme Court, striking down laws prohibiting interracial marriage.

I was out of retirement as a docent very quickly.

Which is how I came to find myself spending a lovely evening with Barbara – who makes her home in Cambridge, New York – at A Painted View Ranch, where Art for the Sangres is hosted. For this show the barn is converted to a showcase, with the horse stalls serving as mini-galleries for the 24 artists. Ironically, Barbara and I were sharing a stall with Lorie, who was this year’s featured artist, and with whom my docent career began.

Two of these amazing Grey Villet photos went home from the show with Wet Mountain Valley residents. And hundreds more people had the chance to view these images and hear Grey’s story, as told by me, as they circulated around the artists and their work while sipping wine and enjoying the fine food.

In the end more than $147,000 in art was sold during the event, with 40 percent of the proceeds supporting San Isabel’s conservation efforts. As a docent out of retirement, spending this evening immersed in the historic world of photojournalism was about as real as it could get.


Hal Walter is a 30-year resident of Custer County and the author of Full Tilt Boogie – A journey into autism, fatherhood, and an epic test of man and beast.