It’s hard to believe now. But there was a time when Bruce Springsteen fans might not have recognized their hero on the street.
“These days, there’s a camera everywhere,” says rock photographer Ron Akiyama. “That’s the way pop marketing is. It’s wide open. There’s no mystery left in popular culture. But in the 1970s, music fans — big fans — very rarely knew what their favorite performers looked like.
“You’d scour the magazines for clear shots, for anything that brought you closer to the star.”
Akiyama and fellow photographer Mark Wyville share more than a keen eye for composition. They both took shots — and lots of them — of the Boss and his band during the legendary shows that followed the release of “Darkness on the Edge of Town.”
At the “Darkness” shows, Akiyama and Wyville found an artist whose dramatic performances begged to be captured on film. It’s not unreasonable to suggest that rock photography and Bruce Springsteen grew up together.
Mark Wyville
Bruce Springsteen, at the Palladium in New York City, 1978.
Total Access
Akiyama has shot Madonna, Joan Jett and Bon Jovi, just to name a few of his high-profile subjects. He still looks back fondly, however, on the years he spent shooting Bruce Springsteen — and not just because the E Street Band members were extraordinarily photogenic. In the late ’70s, the restrictive rules for modern rock photographers hadn’t been written yet.
“Access was a lot different in the ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ era,” says the photographer, who grew up in Newark and met E Street drummer Max Weinberg while working at a record store in South Orange. “I had freedom of the stage to shoot entire shows, and to get angles and perspectives. Now, photographers go through hell and high water to get 10 minutes of photographs. Often we’re relegated to the soundboard and forced to shoot from there. The shots do not feel the same. You can’t get the essence of the show. Creativity is out the window.”
New Jersey photographer documents more than 40 Bruce Springsteen shows since late 1970s
New Jersey photographer has vintage concert images selected to appear in Bruce Springsteen’s new CD/DVD release
On Tuesday, thousands of Bruce Springsteen fans will head to stores or log onto online retailers to pick up copies of “The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story,” a six-disc boxed set crammed with previously unreleased material, rarities and concert footage. “The Promise” ships with an 80-page booklet modeled on the notebook Springsteen used during the “Darkness” sessions, and promises to bring Springsteen fans closer than they ever have been to the E Street Band at the height of its power — and to an inimitable rock star growing up under the stagelights.
Akiyama loves “Darkness” — but he doesn’t need the boxed set to remember Springsteen in the transitional years between his initial success with “Born to Run” and his ’80s superstardom. His explosive images of the rocker testify to the rapport the Boss had with those lucky enough to catch him in concert.
Ron Akiyama
Ron Akiyama, center, with Bruce Springsteen, left, and Max Weinberg.
“It was quite a kick to shoot Bruce at that time, and to watch him make the change from a kid to an adult and make the leap from small concerts to arenas,” he says. “During the ‘Darkness’ era, he changed his look drastically. He went from a scruffy Jersey guy who looked like he fixed cars to a guy who’d play in a suit. He cropped his haircut, shaved, and put on a Wall Street shirt. It was nothing like the ‘tramps like us’ look. He was telling the audience: ‘This is what I am now.’ ”
View from the crowd
It was during the “Darkness” era that photographer Mark Wyville became a true believer. When he walked through the doors of the Palladium in New York City in September ’78, he’d never seen Springsteen before.
Luckily for him — and for us — he smuggled his Nikon and his telephoto lens into the concert. It couldn’t happen today; Wyville’s gear would be confiscated at the gate. But in 1978, an enterprising cameraman with decent equipment could take guerrilla action shots at shows. (Akiyama, for instance, started his career by shooting Led Zeppelin concerts from the crowd and selling his candids to other fans.)
“We snuck the stuff in,” says Wyville, who now lives in Montclair.
“They didn’t frisk you down. Back then, the bouncers weren’t that tough on you. And I was pretty tall. I could stand on the chair and shoot away.”
Remarkably, Wyville’s shots, taken from the audience, crackle with kinetic energy rarely seen in contemporary rock photography. The contrast between light and darkness is bold, and the images often seem to be in motion.
Some of the credit goes to the subjects, of course. The E Street Band was always something to see, and few rock stars have ever been as expressive, or as theatrical, as the Boss.
Mark Wyville
Bruce Springsteen, at the Palladium in New York, in 1978.
But Wyville — who has since taken photographs for The Star-Ledger and shot everything from horse racing to desert landscapes — had a professional’s eye, and a technical advantage that many modern photographers don’t.
“I loved working in darkrooms,” says Wyville, whose extensive work is available for viewing at markwyville.com.
“I’ve found that if you compare new photos to old prints, you don’t get the tonality that you can achieve in traditional developing. Clearly digital is much easier, and there’s no out-of-pocket expense.”
Wyville cites another advantage that a photographer in 1978 had over his contemporary counterpart: Technical limitations forced him to be economical.
“I see newer photographers shoot like crazy,” he says. “When you only have 36 pictures on a roll, you’re forced to be a lot more selective. Even when working with a digital camera, I still, in the back of my head, shoot very selectively.”
Meeting the boss
Wyville recently was rewarded for his judicious temperament — and for his patience. Springsteen picked two of his shots for inclusion in the notebook that accompanies “The Promise.” These shots appear on pages 75 and 76 of the booklet.
“I’m so happy about that,” he says. “After 30 years of keeping your fingers crossed, to have my photos chosen was a thrill.”
The selection was no bolt from the blue. Wyville worked hard to get his photos in front of the rock star. He tracked down the photo director who worked on the boxed set for “Born to Run” and told him about his catalog of images from the “Darkness” years.
Mark Wyville.
The negotiation brought back memories of the photographer’s first interaction, now more than 30 years ago, with the Boss.
“I saw him at the Fastlane in Asbury Park,” he says. “We sat down and I asked him if he wanted to look at my photos. I was just petrified. I sat there while he went through them. I told him if he picked out a few from my contact sheets — some where he thought he looked cool — I’d get him prints. He was pretty selective. Later, I delivered the ones he chose to his house, which, at that time, was at the highest point in Monmouth County.
“I didn’t see him when I dropped the shots off, but I could hear him playing in the background.”
Seein’ the light
Akiyama remembers Springsteen as low-key and nice. The photographer concedes that he wasn’t crazy about the Boss before meeting Weinberg, preferring heavier rock music. Once he caught his first Springsteen concert, though, he was hooked.
Ron Akiyama
Springsteen, with saxophonist Clarence Clemons.
Related Articles
No user responded in this post
Leave A Reply