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The face of soul: Performers shine in a photo exhibition at Stax Museum

By Bob Mehr
mehr@commercialappal.com

New York photographer Jacob Blickenstaff had an epiphany of sorts in Memphis in 2006.

He'd come to town to attend the Ponderosa Stomp, the New Orleans-based heritage music festival that highlights forgotten and overlooked greats of R&B, soul, country and rock and roll. The festival had relocated to the Bluff City from the Big Easy that year in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. "Seeing the (Stomp), it really hit me that there are a lot of these great old artists still circulating," says the 30-year-old Blickenstaff.

"And I was also impressed and surprised that the vast majority of the performances were still incredibly energized and vital, and they were making great music still. It wasn't like this museum of wax figures. There were real performances that moved me just as much as anything, and probably more than a lot of contemporary music."

For Blickenstaff, it was a crucial moment that would shape his work for the next three years. Now, his efforts are being collected in a new photo exhibit at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Blickenstaff's "Still Life in Soul" -- which launches with an opening reception tonight and runs through April -- presents 40 images that capture classic soul and R&B artists as they appear now, both onstage and off.

"The idea behind the photos was to portray these artists as they are today," says Blickenstaff. "It wasn't an homage to something in the past. It's not so much looking back as perceiving what's there now."

A St. Louis native, Blickenstaff moved to New York City for college, where he studied jazz and performance. But by the early 2000s, his passion for playing music had been replaced by a passion for taking photos of musicians. "Once I started engaging in that, music was something I really wanted to document and make a part of my creative process," he says. "Photography became the way I engaged with music."

At the same time, Blickenstaff was working as a deejay and part-time record store clerk and developing a deepening interest in "soul music, the origins of rock and roll, early country, and all the great stuff that happened in the '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s," he says.

After his 2006 Ponderosa Stomp visit, Blickenstaff was so moved by what he saw that it inspired a mission: to document the remaining greats of American roots music.

The following year Blickenstaff returned to Memphis to photograph the Stax Records 50th anniversary concert. In addition to shooting live performances, he set up a backstage portrait tent and managed to catch artists in between sets.

"With some of them I only had a few frames, or just a few minutes," says Blickenstaff. "So you had to wait for that one moment. But I think, in a way, the more simple and direct you get about it the better the pictures become."

He continued to shoot each of the next three Ponderosa Stomps, becoming the festival's official photographer, as well as traveling to other similar soul events throughout the country. The photos shot during those travels comprise the bulk of "Still Life in Soul" -- a show that pays tribute to the past and present in equal measure.

"I was very influenced by album artwork and some of the classic music photography of David Gahr and Jim Marshall, and also just kind of the anonymous promotional portraits that are done of all these artists that usually end up being cut and pasted onto album design," says Blickenstaff.

"But I think that as I got to know people a little bit more and kept working, I was interested in finding the contemporary and present-day narrative of what these artists experience and what they're like and what their personalities are today."

Blickenstaff would expand his work to include more portraiture, often shooting at the artists' homes or in casual settings. From a giddy Bettye LaVette reclining on a couch, to a beaming postperformance Otis Clay, a somber-looking Dave Bartholomew to a warm pairing of old pals Eddie Floyd and William Bell, Blickenstaff's photos are uniquely intimate and unguarded, a result of his low-key approach.

"Basically, I do my research and listen to everything I can by the artist. But when I go meet them I put that all in the back of my head and just approach them as a person. The guard comes down when you don't approach people as a fan," he says.

"A lot of artists will put on a face for the fans, or graciously take a picture, and they're always 'on.' But if you take a moment to talk to them directly, I think you can break through the faade. Most of these people are incredibly humble. A lot of them have major accomplishments; they know they've been out of the spotlight, and they appreciate honest recognition. And then it's very easy for them to open up."

The Stax exhibit is Blickenstaff's first solo show, but it won't be his last. He's compiled a list of mostly behind-the-scenes music industry figures -- songwriters, record men, producers -- he wants to shoot throughout the country, from Detroit to Nashville, Memphis to New Orleans, in order to include them in his next exhibit or possibly for companion photo book.

"There's a ton of scholarship in terms of books and even some photography projects, but now that we're in the late 2000s, we're constantly reevaluating and understanding what this music and the people who made it mean," says Blickenstaff. "We're always trying to explain the value of this great American music to current audiences. I'm just hoping to add to that discussion."

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Jacob Blickenstaff's "Still Life in Soul"

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music, 926 E. McLemore. Opening reception from 7 to 10 tonight. There will be food, cocktails, as well as appearances by Blickenstaff, former Stax Records artists and special guests. Admission is $20; free to members. The exhibit will be on display at Stax through April 30, 2010. Regular admission is $12 for adults, $9 for children.