Photographing the Music Industry

Frederick Van May 20, 2020

1 minute read

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02:54 — 54.4MB)

In this interview, I chat with San Francisco, CA-based music, and concert photographer Jay Blakesberg. Jay shares a few of his lifetime of stories that come from photographing a veritable whos-who in the music industry.

Jay is a San Francisco-based photographer, filmmaker, and visual anthropologist whose work has been featured in Rolling Stone, Guitar Player, Relix, and many other magazines. He has worked with countless musical artists, including Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Phish, moe., Tom Waits, the Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana, and, of course, the Grateful Dead to name just a few. Blakesberg attended his first Dead show in September 1977 as a 15-year-old kid.

Thirty-seven years later, he went on to become the official Fare Thee Well photographer for the band’s final five shows. Secret Space of Dreams is his 15th coffee table book of music photography.