Shooting Stars: The Art of Music Photography

From smoky New Orleans jazz clubs to beat-era New York cafés, from underground punk venues to sprawling rock festivals, music photography has captured some of the most electrifying moments in modern cultural history. This evocative art form has shaped not only how we see music, but also how we remember the musicians who make it.

It began in the early 20th century in the United States, with grainy portraits of blues and jazz pioneers. By the 1950s, photographers like Herman Leonard and Al Wertheimer were capturing the cool mystique of bebop legends and the raw, seductive energy of a young, unknown Elvis Presley. The counterculture explosion of the 1960s brought new visual energy: Jim Marshall immortalised Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar at Monterey and Johnny Cash flipping the finger at Folsom Prison. By the end of that decade, pop had cemented itself as the lifeblood of youth culture - and music journalism, with its vivid photography, became its most powerful mirror.

Music photography, of course, extends far beyond the stage. It encompasses portraits, album covers, audience shots, marketing images, and intimate behind-the-scenes moments - each adding to the visual narrative of sound and performance. Yet today, this vital genre is under threat. The shift in how music is produced and consumed - from active participation to passive streaming - has eroded the platforms that once sustained it. Music magazines have folded in their dozens, replaced by the algorithms of the digital age. With their disappearance, much of the critical writing and photography that defined eras of sound has faded too.

Pierre Crocquet De Rosemond (South Africa 1971-2013), Miriam Makeba, Joy of Jazz (2007),
Archival black and white print on paper. Courtesy of the Pierre Crocquet Estate

Photograph of Patrick de Mervelec in front of his series of photographs featuring the late
Johnny Clegg. Photo by Naoya Yoshikawa

Patrick de Mervelec Johnny Clegg (2007), Archival black and white print on paper, 510 × 405.
Courtesy of the artist

Shooting Stars, presented at the Cape Town Photography Festival in September 2025, featured the work of 22 photographers spanning the 1950s to the early 2000s. Genres from boeremusiek to punk, jazz, kwaito, and reggae were represented. The exhibition also included a historical capsule honouring the late Ian Bruce Huntley (1939 - 2023), whose seminal jazz photographs taken in Cape Town between 1964 and 1974 remain a cornerstone of South African music heritage. The exhibition offered a multisensory experience - the images on display were paired with the soundtracks of the music/musicians depicted. This collection of photographs, however, were much more than records of performances, they are living portraits of our sound, our struggle, and our joy. The exhibition invited its audiences to listen with their eyes.

Shooting Stars also sparked the Cape Town Photography Festival’s Legacy Project: a commitment to establish a South African Music Photography Archive to safeguard and digitise threatened collections. During a panel discussion held on 13 September 2025, it was agreed that South Africa’s Photographic archives are in crisis, with little support for preserving music photography.

In an era dominated by digital consumption, preserving music photography is more crucial than ever. These images are historical documents that tell the story of our musical evolution and cultural shifts. The commitment to establishing a South African Music Photography Archive is a significant step towards safeguarding these invaluable collections. By digitising and preserving these works, we ensure that future generations can continue to see, hear, and feel the vibrant history of music through the lens of those who captured it.

Ian Bruce Huntley (1939 - 2023), Sathima Bea Benjamin at the Space Theatre in Long Street (1974), Archival black and white print on paper, 55 x 36 cm. Courtesy of the Chris Albertyn (Custodian ofthe Estate)

Shooting Stars, Gregogry Franz, Hubert Laws, St Georges Cathedral (2024), Archival black and white print on paper. Courtesy of the artist