MUMBAI: When you picture The Band, you have Elliott Landy’s photographs in your mind. He took the legendary photos in their 1968 album, Music From Big Pink and THE BAND, their self-titled 1969 album. But there’s more where those came from. A whole lot more!
Elliott Landy took some of the most iconic photographs in rock’n’roll history. He was the official photographer at the 1969 Woodstock festival. His portraits of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison are on the covers of Nashville Skyline and Moondance, respectively. His work has been featured in major magazines. exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide for over 50 years. He has published 12 books devoted exclusively to his photographs.
In 2015, Landy published The Band Photographs, 1968-1969 with the help of Kickstarter. It became the highest funded music photography book in Kickstarter history.
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The Band has become one of the most celebrated groups in rock’n’roll history: for their own groundbreaking work, for their integral role in Bob Dylan’s development and for the all-star concert film The Last Waltz. The fertile period of 1968-69 – which produced Big Pink, The Band and The Basement Tapes – is steeped in mystery and has been subject to countless articles, essays and books. But other than the music itself, only Elliott Landy’s photographs bring it to life.
“I was the only photographer who had access to The Band during that period while living in Woodstock, N.Y. Because we were friends I had the freedom to hang out and take whatever pictures I wanted. I shot more than 10,000 frames of film of The Band during this period. Of these, fewer than 25 had been published prior to my 2015 book, The Band Photographs 1968-1969, which contained 200 photographs—most of which had never been published before.”
Volume 2 of The Band Photographs began when Landy started going through some old boxes of prints, and discovered shots from the same period that he thought were as good or better than the ones he’d just published: “really great images that definitely deserved to be seen.” They capture an innocence and excitement particular to their hermetic environment, before success started to tear them apart.
“Because of the unfettered access I had as a friend, the photographs bring us into their lives from the mundane chores of grocery shopping to the fun of playing football in the backyard to the sublime moments of creation in the studio and onstage. You will be transported back to their homes in Woodstock and invited to gather on Levon’s bed as they discuss lyrics for who knows, Rag Mama Rag or maybe King Harvest….”
“At the time I was photographing them they were thrilled with the music they were making together. These photographs of Garth, Levon, Richard, Rick and Robbie are testimony to their camaraderie and love of life which were the seeds from which their music sprung.”
The Kickstarter campaign for Volume 2 of The Band Photographs 1968-69 goes live on February 7th, 2023. Rewards offered for pledges include signed editions, limited edition prints, lithos and more. The book will be the same size as Volume 1 (12×12”), beautifully printed. It will make a perfect mate to the first volume – or your favorite vinyl records by The Band.
Hardcover, 12×12 inches, with 160 projected pages. Beautifully printed on heavy weight paper.
To learn more about the Kickstarter and supporting Landy’s $65,000 campaign please visit http://kck.st/3Xah72z
