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CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. - Jerry Garcia, Neil Young, Elton John, Chuck Berry, OutKast, and other music legends will be lining the walls of the Chappaqua Library for a few more weeks.
After starting out as a last-minute replacement, William Lulow's exhibit has now been extended by the library until March 10. While residents may view the portraits as works of art, for Lulow, they are also memories.
"I've been taking pictures since I was 11 years old," said Lulow. "It's a lifelong obsession I guess."
Lulow took his obsession to a professional level in Denver, Co., which is where most of his music portraits were taken. He was granted access to a number of rock musicians as a photographer for the Denver Post.
"I worked with a writer. She did a lot of interviews and I shot all the pictures," said Lulow, who recalls his first assignment of photographing Judy Collins at her home in 1972.
Lulow relocated to New York in 1974 and his focus shifted away from the music scene and he began shooting catalogs and photographs for magazines such as People and Money. He worked at many studios before setting up his own in New York City in 1980.
In 1998, he relocated once again to Westchester County and opened a studio in Chappaqua. Despite working in the area for more than a decade, his "Musicians" exhibit is his first to be displayed at the library.
"I was in touch with Larry DAmico, whos the curator there," said Lulow. "I think he finally called me because there was an opening here and somebody who was supposed to be exhibited at this time could not get it together."
While most of his music portraits were taken in 1972, Lulow said several had gone unseen before the exhibit. Thanks to new technology, he was able to re-touch photographs in a way he could not when they were originally taken.
"Theyre all digitized now," said Lulow. "Its interesting because I discovered that there was some shots that I wouldnt have played with in the dark room that much, but now that I can sit down and work on that computer, I got a couple of shots that I didnt think I had."
Along with remaining on display, copies of Lulow's portraits in the library are also available for purchase.
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