Jerry Garcia by Jim Crowley

https://www.jimicrowley.com

 Jimi Crowley, a San Francisco native. Most of my work photographing bands was seeking out the manager of the band and showing him some of my work. It always got me into the bands shows that I loved, included Rock, Reggae, Blues and Soul. I did it not for money but for the love of doing it. I always shot from the crowd since 1977, though It was The Rolling Stones in 1994 that first allowed me entry, allowing me to photography the band from the pit (a place known by all photographers). I’ve travelled the world photographing the acts I loved including The Rolling Stones.

For over 40 years I have been a photographer / videographer / and a video producer. Most of my work has been musicians, conventions of all kinds, wedding photography, and other events. I’ve had the pleasure of working with great people, great talent and great companies like Air France, Air Touch, American General, Basic American Foods, Chips and Technologies, Compaq Computers, Foster Farms, Genentech, Glen Ellen, Intel, Robert Mondavi, Monsanto, Ortho, Pepsi, Piper Jaffery, and The Shaklee Corporation …to name a few.

I became interested in photography when I was in eighth grade after discovering the works of Ansel Adams and then Jim Marshall. When I was in high school, I received my first camera from my father Paul Crowley. I said, “but Dad where are the f-stops and how do I load 35mm film into this camera”. My Dad informed me, “never mind, this camera will give you the opportunity to learn perspective and composition”. After about a year, I used a Pentax K-1000 that borrowed from St Mary’s High School Prep in Berkeley. It was two years later, while attending McAteer High in San Francisco that I owned a Nikkormat, given to me by my father Paul. I still have it to this day but hardly ever use it. Most of my work is done using Nikon FM2 and a Nikon F3. Today, I still use Nikon.

At first, nature and people were my interests. Nature, because I wanted to follow the works of Ansel Adams i.e. Zone System and people because the house a grew up in was like a Grand Central Station for some very interesting characters. It was when I attended a concert in 1976, that’s when I realized what I wanted to photograph. I have always loved music and photography and thought I could combine the two. I have photographed and worked with such bands as The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Ziggy Marley, Jimmy Cliff, ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Wailers to name a few.