These rare photographs shot backstage, portray famous young musicians at the start of their careers. The images express all the energy and passion of a rock band on stage.

“Who shot Rock and Roll?” is an exhibition and celebration that sets out to evoke the force, energy and sexiness of rock music in 1960s and 1970s – an electrifying and dynamic period when for many fans and musicians alike, rock music was a way of life rather than just an art form. These were the years when rock music took on its own visual identity and became a conduit for cultural and social change.

Images such as Paul Simonon of The Clash smashing his guitar, immortalized by Pennie Smith, a sweat-drenched Tina Turner and a coquettish Mick Jagger singing “Satisfaction” with a microphone stuck into his pants. These images helped to create icons; photographers who knew how to make a cultural manifesto from a simple piece of paper.

The caption accompanying the photograph taken by Pennie Smith in 1979 reads “Rockers are warriors out of their heads who fight hypocrisy and use their instruments as weapons of defence”.

The exhibition’s 105 artists and 175 works, many previously unpublished, celebrate the finest photographs that went to create rock music’s visual identity. Rock culture touched hordes of youngsters and moulded models for entire generations.

By Richard Avedon, Albert Watson, Leibovitz, David Lachapelle.

Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present

Until 31st January gennaio 2010
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY