The sixties are alive and well represented at the Montreal Jazz Festival this year, if not necessarily in music. An exhibition of photographs from that colorful era by Baruch alumnus Elliott Landy (’64) are on display at the festival’s Galerie Lounge TD through Dec. 24, 2010. More than 65 prints—some never shown before—will be included, as well as Looped, a video projection of impressionist renderings made with Woodstock Festival and Jimi Hendrix images. These spectacular colorized superimpositions were created with an application Landy designed himself.
Landy began his career in photography in the late 1960s by documenting the anti–Vietnam War movement and underground music scene in New York. The latter led to photographing such luminaries as Janis Joplin, The Band, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan, among many others. (Landy’s best-known work is probably the cover photo of Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album.) In 1969 Landy took what was perhaps his most important gig: official photographer at Woodstock. His experiences at the festival are captured in his 1994 book Woodstock Vision: The Spirit of a Generation.
Landy’s work has been featured in several galleries and museums worldwide. In 2007 the Whitney Museum’s Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era exhibition prominently featured several of his images, including the Nashville Skyline cover, which graced the show’s poster/program.
Aside from musicians, Landy has photographed his children and travels and has created a series of impressionist flower images. His pictures have been featured on the covers of various publications as well as album covers and calendars. Visit his website: www.landyvision.com.
—Marina Zogbi