Unseen Photographs of Rock n\\\’ Roll Legends

Step back in time and experience the golden era of rock and roll through Unseen Photographs of Rock & Roll Legends, a captivating exhibition at The Rye Arts Center. Featuring rare and intimate photographs from Michael Friedman’s Lost Negatives Project, this collection showcases iconic artists like Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, The Band, and more, captured during their prime from 1968-1973. Discovered decades later in an attic, these extraordinary images offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse of music history in the making. Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate the legacy of rock’s greatest talents through the lens of someone who lived it. Click the URL below to RSVP to the reception where you can interact with Michael Friedman’s work and Michael himself. https://www.ryeartscenter.org/unseen-rock-n-roll

Michael Friedman began his music career managing bands in college, later becoming a publicist for The Bee Gees, The Mamas and Papas, The Turtles, The Hollies, and Glen Campbell. He managed and produced Todd Rundgren’s first band, NAZZ, before joining Albert Grossman in 1968, working with Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin, and others, while documenting his experiences with a Pentax camera. Friedman produced early albums for Grossman’s Bearsville Records and later managed Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge. At Arista Records in 1979, he created the video department, producing groundbreaking music videos, before founding Empire Records. In 2018, Friedman’s wife, Donna Vita, discovered photo negatives of artists he worked with (1968-1973). This led to The Lost Negatives Project, featuring exhibits at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where the photos are archived. Their book, EXPOSED: The Lost Negatives and Untold Stories of Michael Friedman, was published in 2023. Friedman also pursued antiques and design, opening Friedman Gallery Antiques and Artafax in Westport in 1983. His book Cowboy Culture: The Last Frontier of American Antiques was released in 1992. With Vita, he co-founded the Ash Creek Saloons in Fairfield and Norwalk and The Goose American Bistro in Darien.