Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is honored to announce an extensive exhibition of more than 50 photographs by Bill Eppridge (1938 – 2013). The exhibit opens with a reception on Friday, June 29, from 5 - 7 PM with Eppridge’s wife and longtime editor and collaborator Adrienne Aurichio in attendance; and continues through September 15, 2018.
A new book of Eppridge’s photographs, “Becoming Barbra”, presents a never-before-seen look at Barbra Streisand as she was becoming a star. From the humble beginnings of Barbra Streisand’s career in 1963 to full-fledged stardom in 1966, Eppridge had full access to the young singer. “This is the first book of Bill’s photographs that he did not live to see published … It took so long because many publishers didn’t want to publish the book without Barbra’s approval”, said Aurichio, who will be signing copies of the book during the opening reception.
Bill Eppridge was one of the most accomplished photojournalists of the Twentieth Century and captured some of the most significant moments in American history: he covered wars, political campaigns, heroin addiction, the arrival of the Beatles in the United States, Vietnam, Woodstock, the summer and winter Olympics, and perhaps the most dramatic moment of his career - the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy in Los Angeles. Over the last 60 years, his work appeared in numerous publications, including National Geographic, Life, and Sports Illustrated; and has been exhibited in museums throughout the world.
Born in Buenos Aires, the second of three children, young Bill Eppridge came to the U.S. and grew up in upstate New York near Rochester. In 1960, Eppridge refined his art and his eye at the University of Missouri, where he received his bachelor's degree in journalism. While at the School of Journalism, Eppridge won a picture competition and first prize brought him to a week-long internship with LIFE magazine. After his graduation, Eppridge worked for National Geographic, and then, LIFE magazine. With well over 100 assignments, he had already proved his talent by the time he was formally made a member of the exalted Life staff in 1964. His assignments with LIFE magazine marked some very important points in history, beginning with coverage of several wars in the early sixties. Still later, Eppridge worked on environmental and outdoor stories for LIFE magazine until it ceased publication as a weekly in 1972. He then signed a corporate contract with Time Inc. "I tried all the magazines to see if I liked working for TIME or Fortune. I was there for the start of People." Eventually in 1977, he joined Sports Illustrated. He describes his work with SI as "Sports with no balls" as he was not fond of shooting baseball, basketball, or football. "I prefer to do something that I've never done before", he remarks. "Rather than specialize, I'm a generalist."
The exhibit presents an overview of his career, and many of his photographs of Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 campaign will be featured. Also included is the extraordinary burned master print of Robert Kennedy lying on the hotel floor of the Ambassador hotel after he was shot. This will be one of only a few times the master print has been exhibited publicly.
He was the recipient of the 2011 Lucie Award for Achievement in Photojournalism. According to Aurichio, “the most important element to Eppridge was always content but composition helped communicate the content. His own writings on the subject that he titled, “Journalist as artist”, express his philosophy:
“A journalist does not necessarily imply ‘artist’ but you are not going to make your point if you cannot make a picture that people will stop and explore…the ‘artist’ in one instant must establish a sense of time, a sense of place, a moment of importance, a moment of aesthetic beauty all in the same frame, one moment in history. In terms of importance, the fewer of these present, the less significant the photograph. Anybody can take pictures, but not anybody can become a photographer.’”
