Alphas

Okay, so who is watching Alphas, Mondays at 10 on SYFY? And why do I care? 

A scene from Alphas, episode 3

If you look closely, there on the wall of David Strathairn's office in the show (starting in episode 2), you'll see photographs. These photographs. (and sometimes more than once in an episode)

Lou Reed, Bottom Line, 1978

Set decoration. Interesting. I like this. A first for me, not a magazine or the internet or a fine art print on a gallery wall. You have to be open to all the places where the photos can end up. The difference here is usage rights. Editorial is fine even when there is no release, and fine art is allowed too (just don't put the image on a t-shirt if you don't have a release) TV is something else though, and the legal department had to get involved, but ultimately, it all worked out.


Oh, and if you look really quickly, you can see my name in the credits. But it's really fast, so I'll make it easier for you.

Don't forget to watch.

Hail Hail Rock 'N' Roll

I also photographed Lou backstage with Garland Jeffreys in November 1979. Garland had just given a concert at the Bottom Line and Lou was visiting after the show. If you don't know Garland's music, you should. Wild in the Streets is probably his best known song, but he is still an active, exciting performer, with a new CD coming out soon. Can't wait! He'll be playing a show in New York this fall. Of course, you can find videos of his songs and performances on YouTube. Go. Listen. It's worth it. 

Lou Reed and Garland Jeffreys backstage at the Bottom Line in 1979.

Here's Garland posing backstage at the Dr. Pepper Music Festival in Central Park in 1977.

And here he is performing at the Bitter End in 2007. The place was packed. And yes, he's still a man who wears many hats.

Street Hassle

I didn't see Lou Reed around anywhere when I went to the New York Photo Festival, but I did get to photograph him quite a bit back in the day. I love this shot from the stage at the Bottom Line, which was taken while Lou was touring to support the release of Street Hassle. Lou Reed smiling! And winking at me! Lou's people loved it too, and Arista Records bought 3 copies of the print. I heard they wanted to use it as his publicity photograph. But it just didn't fit with his image at the time, so there you go. The photograph did run in the June 1979 issue of the late, great Grooves Magazine. 

Lou Reed smiling at the Bottom Line in May 1978

Rock and Roll Heart

I don’t like opera and I don’t like ballet
And new wave french movies, they just drive me away
I guess I’m just dumb, ’cause I knows I ain’t smart
But deep down inside, I got a rock ’n’ roll heart. - Lou Reed- Rock and Roll Heart

Copyright 2010 New York Photo Festival, LLC. All rights reserved. 

Well, Lou Reed might not like opera or ballet, but he definitely likes photography. Not only have his own photographs been published in books (Lou Reed's New York and Romanticism) and exhibited in galleries, but this weekend he's the curator of one of the exhibitions at the New York Photo Festival. His show is called Hidden Books, Hidden Stories and is shown in three parts at the festival in DUMBO, which ends today.