Visual Music: Northeast Ohio Photographers Look at Rock and Roll opens Saturday, June 11, at Waterloo Road Gallery

Pearl Jam by Aaron Mendelsohn, taken last year at the Q.

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Over more than five decades Cleveland has been a hotbed of rock and roll. “Visual Music: Northeast Ohio Photographers Look at Rock and Roll” presents the work of a dozen photographers who lived and worked in Northeast Ohio from the 1960s through today.

The show opens at the Waterloo Gallery at 16006 Waterloo Road, a block from the Beachland Ballroom, on Saturday, June 11 with a reception from 7 to 11 p.m. It’s free and open to the public. It will run through Saturday, June 25, concluding with an all-day open house from noon-8 p.m. to coincide with the Waterloo Arts Festival.

Over the years, these talented shooters have documented Cleveland’s vibrant music scene from the Beatles to Bruce Springsteen to the White Stripes. George Shuba was Cleveland’s pioneer photographer in the ’60s when groups like the Beatles and the Stones came through town and all the top acts appeared on WEWS-TV’s Upbeat Show. Bob Ferrell, Stephanie Saniga and I  began shooting in the ’70s when Cleveland was a breakout market for many major artists; they were joined in the ’80s by Scene photographer Linda Woods. Karen Novak captured the legendary Euclid Tavern underground concerts of the ’90s. Ken Blaze recorded the life and times of ’90s DIY venue Speak in Tongues. Jay Brown and Greg Donley focused on the sweaty intimacy of small clubs while Aaron Mendelsohn travelled around the country to major festivals like Bonaroo. Joe Kleon has documented many top metal bands as well as more mainstream rockers. And Bryon Miller has turned his camera on some of Cleveland’s most creative local bands of this moment.

All have created distinctive bodies of work, many of which have never been exhibited in a gallery setting. “Visual Music,” which I organized and curated, will be largest survey of local music photography ever seen, with almost 200 prints.

Go to http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=584783770&ref=name#!/event.php?eid=145854235483538 for more information.