Seelig photos selected
for RockX-Posed Tour
By ADAM
TANOUS
Express Arts Editor
Five photographs
by Idaho Mountain Express photographer David N. Seelig have been selected for
inclusion in the Kodak Rock Photography Collection of the 500 greatest
photographs in rock music history. The works will become part of a roving tour
called the RockX-Posed Tour. The show opens Friday, Dec. 27, at the Rio All
Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The show will tour nine other cities over
the course of two years. Then it will reside in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.
David Seelig
shot this photograph of Madonna during a 1989 concert. Photo by David N.
Seelig
Over 130
international photographers have works in the collection. Seelig’s
contribution comprises two photographs of Bruce Springsteen, one of Madonna, one
of Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickerson, and one of Johnny Cash and Waylon
Jennings singing at the first Farm Aid Concert in 1985.
The Springsteen
shots were taken at the beginning of the Born in the USA tour in 1985, including
one of Springsteen hanging out in Washington Square Park in Manhattan. When
Seelig lived in New York, he often shot photos in the park. One night Seelig
said he saw the rock star sitting on the steps there and simply started talking
to him. Springsteen told Seelig he used to hang out in the park and play his
guitar in the days before he was famous.
Seelig caught
Springsteen hanging out in New York’s Washington Square Park in 1985. Photo
by David N. Seelig
The Madonna shot
was taken in 1989 during an encore of an outdoor concert, Seelig said. He added
that producers of big concerts like that generally limit photographers to taking
photos during the first three songs of a concert. In this particular instance, a
stagehand noticed Seelig taking photos and told him to stop shooting and to
" ‘wait here’" while he went to get the boss. Seelig didn’t wait
around.
What is
particularly gratifying for Seelig about having his photographs selected for the
show is that "many of the other photographers in the show were my heroes
when I was a kid learning photography. These are guys like Jim Marshall, Bob
Gruenig and Chuck Pullin."
Each photograph
in the RockX-Posed Tour will be offered for sale to the public in limited
edition prints of 500. The prints will be signed by the photographer or bear a
deceased photographer’s estate/archive seal.