Lensman Jay Blakesberg has captured some of the most important cultural moments of bands, musicians and protected communities of the 20th and 21st centuries. It started in 1978, when a teenager sold his first photos of The Grateful Dead to a small newspaper in New Jersey.
Since then, Blakesberg’s photos have been shown in galleries around the world, and he will be in person for a special exhibition at Nicely Gallery on April 3rd for a meet and greet.
We wouldn’t even have many rock and roll memories if it weren’t for photographers. Would we remember the photo of Jimi Hendrix praying (or something) to his burning guitar at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival if it weren’t for photographer Ed Caraeff?
Although Caraeff may not be a name you associate with rock and roll artists (his work is legion), even the names you know shoot a short period of their career. Blakesberg has not stood still for forty years. “Even people with big names like Jim Marshall had careers that were 18 years at most, before they ended it and went into legacy mode and didn’t shoot much,” says Blakesberg from the road.
Blakesberg was often sweating next to you at concerts. Hold on to the faltering front line as he tries to capture the magic. It’s good, light work, and moving to the Bay Area has allowed Jersey-based Blakesberg to see a lot of amazing bands.
“People didn’t have big ears like they do today. I remember being at a Butthole Surfers concert in the late 80s. I’m at the I-Beam in San Francisco and the guy next to me was like, what else are you shooting? I told him I’m shooting three Grateful Dead concerts at the Greek Theater next month and he didn’t understand,” Blaberg said.
These days, Spotify allows listeners to float between Snoop Dogg, alternative rock, punk rock, Grateful Dead, classic rock and the Beatles. “Their romantic horizons are very broad,” says Blakesberg.
In his midlife, Blakesberg was drawn into the Grateful Dead’s headlining act of the 1980s, all the way to the end of the Jerry Garcia era in 1995 and beyond. Blakesberg was a popular game. The long-haired Blakesberg in a tie was a constant presence in the parking lot of the Oakland Coliseum, and in the corridors of Madison Square Garden, and in the fields of Lewiston, Maine. Like a writer with a camera.
Sometimes, if a photographer is lucky enough to graduate from the field to the stage, he is born without quality and patience.
For the long-dead Blakesberg, an opportunity came in 1990. “Bob Weir had a musical partner named Rob Wasserman,” says Blakesberg.
“Rob was making a record called Trios. And I was doing most of the photography for Trios. When Rob and Bob decided to start doing something called Weir Wasserman, and Wasserman’s boss, he asked me to do publicity pictures. It was the first time a member of the Grateful Dead paid me to photograph them”
For a working photographer, you need to be in the country, looking for sound, style and the next big thing.
In the late 1980s, Blakesberg began shooting for Soundgarden, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flaming Lips and later, Pearl Jam and Jane’s Addiction.
Blakesberg found himself in the prime of grunge’s heyday, like a flannel-clad Forrest Gump. But he was still shooting the Grateful Dead and those worlds didn’t quite mesh at the time.
It was in the mid-1980s that Blakesberg started to get some shares in Rolling Stone magazine.
“My first assignment was U2. My next assignment, a few weeks later, was in LA with Roseanne Cash playing the Roxy. Blues for Salvador. That was Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Boz Scaggs, and Tower of Power. I took an amazing photo behind Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Bill Graham.
And even if it’s a snapshot flash camera, it’s almost like a portrait photo. I was really trying to make a living as a photographer, and I shot everything I could,” Blakesberg concluded.
Jay Blakesberg will appear next to his work, starting at 4pm on Friday, April 3rd at Nicely Gallery, 1349 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz. The exhibition runs from March 15-June 30. More information at firstfridaysantacruz.com/event/jay-blakesberg
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