Catherine Sebastian
Legendary music photographer Dick Waterman, renowned for his pictures of blues icons such as John Hurt, Muddy Waters and Lightning Hopkins, and other musical artists from country to rock to soul, characterizes the work of Woodstock artist Catherine Sebastian as follows: “Catherine knows all of the bells and whistles about photography equipment and she understands her way around the dark room. But what makes her better is the way she adds depth and heart to her work. She takes you beyond the image and into the deepest understanding of not 'how' she is a great photographer but 'why.' She has grace and brilliance and there is no app where you can download that.”
Along with sculptor Lenny Kislin, Catherine is exhibiting a fine selection of her work in Images & Objects, Stories & Sounds currently on display at the Orphic Gallery in Roxbury. The gallery will celebrate the artists with a gala reception on Saturday, June 7th from 5 to 7 pm.
Catherine’s mother was a painter, which no doubt contributed to her daughter’s exceptional eye for what makes an outstanding photograph. Catherine has been taking pictures since she was a Los Angeles teenager. She studied darkroom and printing technique with the legendary teacher Kirk Kirkpatrick. “Like every other person who picks up a camera I had a lot to learn about light and shadow and how to lay them down on film. I immediately felt this was for me, the excitement of interpreting the visual world,” she said. “What I learned in those classes and exercises still informs how I think about capturing what I see. Light is the medium. It is the brush and also at the heart of emotional import.” Sebastian was a charter member of the Soho West Gallery, in the early 1970s and contributed several of her series of prints --hand-tinted double-exposures depicting Los Angeles-- for a collective show.
Long known for her photographs of the musicians who were part of her life after her marriage to the Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian. A Woodstock, NY resident for decades, Sebastian produced album cover work for Levon Helm and the RCO Allstars- with Booker T, Duck Dunne, Fred Carter, Jr, Mac Rebbenack and Steve Cropper- covers for Leo Sayer, Music from Mud Acres, and Eye to Eye, a collaboration of blues greats including Pinetop Perkins, Calvin “Fuzz” Jones and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, and, back in Los Angeles, in the early 1980’s she took iconic photographs of a number of New Wave artists including the Textones, the Plimsouls and Doug Feiger as well as for solo projects by Peter Case, Doug Jack Lee and Kathy Valentine. “I have a shot from that period -- a telephone pole on Sunset, outside the Whisky, and every single photo and poster stapled on it was my work,” she remembers with a laugh.
She has had work published in The Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Chronogram, ROLL, Blues Revue, LA Connection, BAM, Fine Art magazine and Trouser Press. A cover portrait of Levon Helm was recently voted by Chronogram’s reader’s their favorite cover in the twenty year history of the venerable magazine’s wonderful covers. “That honor had more than a little to do with it being Levon, as well as a great shot” says Catherine.”
In the Images & Objects, Stories & Sounds exhibit, Catherine will show a retrospective of her music photography from her time in California and New York. She will exhibit portraits, concert photos, and intimate behind the scenes shots including pictures of Levon Helm, Muddy Waters, Elizabeth Cotton, Taj Mahal, John Sebastian, Maria Muldaur, Pete Seeger, and Richie Havens. These marvelous photographs truly evoke compelling stories and Catherine will be present at the reception on June 7th to provide contexts for the images and share her memories of their creation.
For a hint of these narratives and her perspective on her photographic techniques see the short video by Stephen Blauweiss of ArtistFilmDocs available for viewing on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdb5KgrzxMU. An extended version of this video that was produced in conjunction with a feature article on Catherine for Chronogram Magazine will be on display at the Orphic Gallery during the reception on June 7th and throughout the run of her exhibit.
The Orphic Gallery
The Orphic Gallery opened the summer of 2012 in the artistic enclave of Roxbury, NY. The gallery exclusively exhibits art related to music including photographs, concert posters, musical instruments, portraits of musicians, souvenirs of musical events, specimens of musical technology, etc. All work exhibited at the gallery has a definite connection to the world of music, and it features exhibits based on both local music history, and musical traditions from around the USA and abroad.
For further information on Images & Objects, Stories & Sounds or the Orphic Gallery, please contact Phillip Lenihan at 607-326-6045 or phil@orphicgallery.com.
orphicgallery.com
catherinesebastian.com
lennykislin.com
ArtistFilmDocs.com
