By Carolyn Keogh

It’s no surprise that hearing names like Elvis, The Beatles, or David Bowie bring certain melodies to mind. But in a time when an image helps many musicians propel to stardom, memorable songs and choruses do not stand alone. The legacy of many music icons lies not only in their music, but in their persona. Before his white, sparkly suits Elvis had his thrusting pelvis. Before their shaggy beards, the Beatles had their mop hair-dos. And before marrying Iman, Bowie had androgyny down to a tee. Throughout these musicians’ careers, their image played a role almost as paramount as their sound.

With the exhibit, “Who Shot Rock ‘n’ Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 – Present,” which ran from October 30, 2009 to January 30, 2010, the Brooklyn Museum examined the inextricable link between rock and roll and photography. The collection of music videos, concert photos and portraits on display proposed that since its beginnings, the way rock music looks has been almost as important as the way it sounds. Through a collection of famous music iconography, like photos of Mick Jagger, Tina Turner and Michael Jackson, the exhibit showed how integral photographs have been throughout the formation and continuation of rock and roll culture.

Organized into six sections, including ones entitled “Starting Out” and “Fans and the Crowd,” the exhibit pointed out the importance of photographs and video in many musicians’ rise to fame. In fact, the first piece on view in the exhibit was a video of Elvis singing and shaking those infamous hips. Taken by William “Red” Robertson in 1955, the video footage showed how very much music may owe to the pictures and video that put famous musicians on the map.

But besides widely seen photographs and famous footage of rock icons, never-before seen photos were also on view; such as one of Amy Winehouse laying in bed on her wedding night. Photographs like these revealed another aspect of music and photography’s relationship: the intimacy shared by many performers and photographers. An intimate photo of Paul McCartney taken by Linda McCartney was on display next to an impromptu shot of Madonna on the streets of New York.

Although the exhibit ended in January, intimate photographs like these can still be seen in the book, Who Shot Rock ‘n’ Roll: A Photography History, 1955 – Present, written and compiled by Gail Buckland. The book was published in late October and was the origin of the exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. Buckland, historian and author, served as a guest curator of the museum’s display; which showed some of the 250 photographs that are included in her book. The book touches upon the same central concept as the exhibit: imagery and photography’s undeniable importance in creating the culture and legacy of rock and roll.

Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of the new wave band The Pretenders, once said in regards to rock n’ roll, “It’s not just the music – there’s music and there’s attitude and there’s the image.” The Brooklyn Museum’s “Who Shot Rock ‘n’ Roll” addressed this notion that in rock n’ roll, maybe it is not just about the music.