"I SHOT RAY CHARLES" at the Stax Museum in June!

Ray Charles, 1961, Gelatin silver print, by Howard Morehead.

“I SHOT RAY CHARLES - Howard Morehead, Photographer"

June 6, 2008 - December 31, 2008

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is pleased to announce that it will be home to a very special exhibit from June 6, through December 31, 2008 – “I SHOT RAY CHARLES, Howard Morehead, Photographer.” This collection of some 50 images of the late, great Ray Charles features the singer, songwriter, and entertainer as captured by the distinguished photographer Howard Morehead. One of the few successful African American photojournalists to work regularly in the entertainment field, one of Morehead’s favorite subjects was his friend Ray Charles. The photos in this exhibit span 40 years, depicting Charles at the peak of his career and in the twilight of his life. The show’s title comes from an essay written by Morehead and discovered among his photographs that were donated after his death in 2003 to the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Los Angeles, where this exhibit originated.

“I SHOT RAY CHARLES” is on loan from CAAM, which recently hosted the Stax Museum’s exhibit, “WATTSTAX: I Am Somebody.” The photographs have been carefully selected from the more than 2,500 photos that were donated to CAAM by Fran Cooper and the Morehead estate. While many of the photos capture Charles alone in his musical empire and personal space, others show him in the company of other icons, including the famed “It’s the Real Thing” Coca Cola commercial with soul mates Aretha Franklin and Billy Preston.

For more than 45 years, Howard Morehead, the first West Coast staff photographer for Ebony and Jet magazines, used his camera to create dramatic images, establish faces, distill time, and capture icons in action.
The Stax Museum of American Soul Music, located in Memphis, Tennessee at the original site of Stax Records, is an entity of the Soulsville Foundation, the nonprofit organization that also operates the Stax Music Academy and The Soulsville Charter School.

For more information, please contact Tim Sampson 901-261-6324, tim.sampson@soulsvillefoundation.org.

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The above photo is from the Collection of the California African American Museum. Gift of Fran Cooper, Administrator fo the Howard Morehead Estate.