BILL EPPRIDGE

IMAGES 2011: Bill Eppridge Retrospective and Juried Photography Exhibition

© Bill Eppridge
The Farifield Museum and History Center is hosting a Bill Eppridge photography retrospective and juried photography exhibition, IMAGES 2011. Mark Savoia, co-owner of Still River Editions and Connecticut Photographics was chosen for his photograph "Stay in Line". The jurors were Bill Eppridge, Stephen Wilkes, Thomas Mezzanotte and Adrienne Aurichio.

Bill Eppridge is a photojournalist and author with a long career at LIFE magazine and Sports Illustrated. He covered RFK from his early campaign days until his death, the Civil Rights movement, the Beatles' first visit to North America, and many other stories in sports, music, and social issues. Eppridge has written several books, including the most recent, A Time It Was: Bobby Kennedy in the Sixties. His bio is here.

Saturday, April 30, 2011 there will be a fundraising preview gala from 6-8:30 pm. Tickets are required, and all proceeds benefit the museum's education programs.

There is a members and artists reception Sunday, May 1 from 2-4 pm. Awards will be presented for the juried show. Free.

Bill Eppridge will be giving a talk "The Man with a Camera: a Night with Bill Eppridge" Thursday, May 19 7-9 pm, $8 admission, members and students $5

The Fairfield Museum and History Center is located at 370 Beach Rd. Fairfield, CT 06824

Upcoming Bill Eppridge Exhibition, and Call for Submissions from the Fairfield Museum


Fairfield Museum and History Center is hosting its Third Annual Juried Photography Exhibition,  IMAGES 2011, which will be held from May 1 to August 28, 2011. Serious amateurs, professionals, and students may enter. A direct link to the entry may be found here. The deadline for submission is Monday, March 28, 2011.

The exhibition will be juried by extraordinary photojournalist, Bill Eppridge (LIFE, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated), Adrienne Aurichio, photo editor and director of Bill Eppridge Photography, accomplished photographer Stephen Wilkes, and photographer and teacher Tom Mezzanotte.

From the Fairfield Museum's website: "The Fairfield Museum will also feature a retrospective exhibition celebrating legendary photojournalist Bill Eppridge,  whose storied career spans over fifty years. His iconic collection of work for magazines such as LIFE, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated captures many of the most important moments in American political and cultural history."

Saying that Mr. Eppridge created many iconic images is an understatement, and I will write a more detailed description of his exhibit as that date approaches. His most recent book is A Time it Was: Bobby Kennedy in the Sixties; it shows RFK during his incredible, energetic 1968 campaign to which Eppridge was given all access, right up to its tragic end. 

There will be a Gala Preview (tickets are needed), and also a free artist reception and awards ceremony with the jurors on Sunday, May 1, 2-4 pm. 

The Museum is located at 370 Beach Rd. Fairfield, CT.

Bill Eppridge: An American Treasure at Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe, NM

© Bill Eppridge
As is the case with most great art--the deep impact of the work often renders the creator invisible. Seeing a cross section of a lifetime's output turns the focus back onto the artist, when a thread of continuity is seen even between vastly disparate subjects.

This is the case for Bill Eppridge, a master photojournalist whose 50 year career is distilled into 50 photographs for the exhibition "Bill Eppridge: An American Treasure" at Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe, opening July 2, 2010. Connecticut Photographics and Still River Editions printed both traditional gelatin silver prints and digital archival color and black and white prints for this show.

Though Eppridge may be known best for his iconic images of Bobby Kennedy before and during the "Heartbreak Campaign", and his gorgeous black and white coverage of the Beatles' first visit to America, it is the scope of his career that is most remarkable. All of the images are connected by Eppridge's hungry eye and poetic gravity. Quoting from Monroe Gallery's website, "he has covered wars, political campaigns, heroin addiction, the arrival of the Beatles in the United States, Vietnam, Woodstock, the summer and winter Olympics, and perhaps the most dramatic moment of his career - the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy in Los Angeles. Over the last 50 years, his work has appeared in numerous publications, including National Geographic, Life, and Sports Illustrated."

And when you see the photographs, you understand. Forgive me if I lapse into stream-of-consciousness--going from the Beatles' arrival in America, and the unbridled optimism of the Bobby Kennedy campaign, to Woodstock, America's Cup, you find your heart in your throat seeing the busboy kneeling over a dying RFK, and the funeral procession of James Cheney ("Missisippi Burning"). Portraits of Barbara Streisand, Jonas Salk, and Cesar Chavez... and then sports coverage... and Apollo 11... the shockingly beautiful, but devastating coverage of "Needle Park"... and these are only fifty prints out of an astounding body of work.

Bill Eppridge will be present at the gallery's opening reception on Friday, July 2, from 5-7 pm. The Monroe Gallery of Photography is located at 112 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

There's a cover story about Eppridge from 2008 in Double Exposure which gives some good background.

~Lys

Eddie Adams: Vietnam, opening and book signing

There was an overwhelming turnout for the recent Eddie Adams: Vietnam exhibition and book signing by his wife and author Alyssa Adams at the Umbrage Gallery in Brooklyn. Here are a few photos provided by Bill Eppridge.


Jay Maisel, Nick Ut, Alyssa Adams, John Filo © Photo by Bill Eppridge

The Pulitzer winning Eddie Adams photograph © Photo by Bill Eppridge

Harry Koundakjian, Mark Savoia © Photo by Bill Eppridge

Pete Hamill, Alyssa Adams, Cindy Lou Adkins © Photo by Bill Eppridge
Cindy Lou Adkins, August Adams, Jay Maisel © Photo by Bill Eppridge

Jay Colton, Bobby Baker Burrows © Photo by Bill Eppridge

Bill Eppridge honored by PMDA in Las Vegas

Photographer Bill Eppridge was recently honored by the Photoimaging Manufactures and Distributors Association (PMDA) at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. For the awards dinner Still River Editions did 18 large (32"x46") prints of some of his most known images for all to see. I spoke to Bill and he may be the only person ever to go to Las Vegas and not lose one cent in the casinos, his trick, don't play. Congratulations Mr. Eppridge!
Photo courtesy of Bill Eppridge © 2009

Google's Archiving of Life's Photos - Needles in a Haystack


A friend of mine let me know about this NYTimes article about Life Magazine's photo archive posted on Google Images. It's a giant jumbled mess you can't flip through quickly. Lame and useless categories. The author compares the experience to rifling through a disorganized box of photographs rather than organized albums.

Check out Google's Life archive for yourself and see what you think... I haven't played with it yet.

The above cover is one of Bill Eppridge's many amazing shots. I wonder what he has to say about this.