Columbia Museum of Art Event

The photograph that I picked from the “Who Shot Rock and Roll” is one by Bob Gruen.  Gruen is an American and was born in 1945.  The photograph is of Tina Turner in 1970. The photograph was printed in1971.  The photograph is about three feet tall and one and a half feet wide. The photo is courtesy of Bob Gruen and is black and white.  The photograph is about fun where Tina is dancing around.  You can see movement in the picture.  Tina is on stage in a sparkly dress dancing around while singing. The photo shows Tina’s energetic and vibrant personality and the presence she has on stage when she is performing. In the photo, Tina is on stage during a concert singing and dancing.

The picture is a gelatin silver print. The gelatin silver print process was created by R.L. Maddox in 181 and was later redone by Charles Harper Bennet in 1878. This is a photographic process used with black and white films and printing papers. Suspended silver salts are in gelatin is coated onto a support material. These materials are light sensitive and are able to be exposed and processed even several years after being manufactured.  When the small silver salt crystals are exposed to light a few atoms of metallic silver are liberated. The amount of time and the temperature conditions control the contrast of the final image. The development is then stopped by neutralizing the developer in a second bath. Once the development is complete, the silver salts are removed by fixing them is sodium or ammonium thiosulphate.  Then, the print is washed in clean water.  At last, the final image consists of metallic silver embedded in a gelatin coating.

Bob Gruen couldn’t abide by the rule laid down by the music industry whereby photographers are allowed in the “pit” for the first three songs at a concert and then they have to leave before the makeup and sweat starts running down faces.  It is only when performers really get going that Gruen is interested in making live shots. Tina Turner is such an amazing performer with moves like no one else.  Gruen tried to capture some of that energy by leaving the camera open to a second exposure while the strobe lights where going off.

This is a picture of the photographer,  Bob Gruen.