Frank Stefanko

Frank Stefanko

The Earl McGrath Gallery will be exhibiting Frank Stefanko's photographs of Bruce Springsteen, taken between 1978 and 1982. Stefanko's photographs provide an extraordinary portrait of the artist at a crucial time in his life and career. As a young photographer, Stefanko, who grew up in a working class neighborhood in New Jersey not far from Bruce Springsteen's hometown, was introduced to the performer by their mutual friend Patti Smith in 1978. That introduction led to a five-year photographic collaboration between Stefanko and Springsteen resulting in cover photos by Stefanko for two of Springsteen's most important albums, Darkness on the Edge of Town and The River. Stefanko's images are also currently featured in the travelling museum exhibit "Springsteen: Troubadour of the Highway," on tour right now in the United States. That exhibit's locations include the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota; The Cranbrook Art Museum in Birmingham, Michegan; and The Newark Museum in Newark, New Jersey. "The pictures were raw...Their directness, their toughness, were what I wanted for my music at that time." -Bruce Springsteen, 2003 The Earl McGrath Gallery's exhibit also celebrates the recent publication of the book Days of Hopes and Dreams: An Intimate Portrait of Bruce Springsteen (billboard Books/Insight Editions, 2003), with a foreword by Chris Murray and an introduction by Bruce Springsteen.

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