The Untamed World of Robert Bolton--Photo Exhibition Opens Aug. 31
Photo by Robert Bolton. Bob Dylan and
Robbie Robertson. Knoxville, TN. Oct. 8, 1965.
Aug. 17, 2006 - Recently discovered photographs of musicians Bob Dylan, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk are part of a new exhibition in the Manuscripts Department of the Louis Round Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"The Untamed World: Photographs by Robert Bolton, 1964-1969," will open Aug. 31 with a free public reception, viewing, and remarks by the photographer's son and exhibit curators. The event begins at 5 p.m. in the Manuscripts Department on the fourth floor of the Wilson Library.
In addition to nine concert and backstage images from the Downbeat Jazz Festival in Chicago, the Atlanta Jazz Festival, and a Bob Dylan Concert, all taken in 1965, the exhibition includes 21 documentary-style photographs. Many are of scenes and people around Bolton's native Knoxville, TN, as well as subjects and street scenes in North Carolina, Manhattan, Louisiana and Georgia.
Bolton was art director of Hogan, Rose & Co., Inc., an advertising agency in Knoxville, and a passionate photographer, said Kirston Johnson, a graduate student at UNC's School of Information and Library Science and one of the exhibit's organizers. "He was never without a camera in his hand. Although he didn't make his living as a photographer, he had unusual talent, and he enjoyed wonderful access to his subjects."
Johnson, whose mother was close friends with Robert Bolton and his wife, Sharon Adams, recalls being photographed as a young girl by Bolton. "He had a way of putting anybody at ease." she recalled. "You can really see that in his pictures."
Photo by Robert Bolton. New York City,
August 1964.
After landing in 2005 as a research assistant at UNC's Southern Folklife Collection (SFC), part of the library's Manuscripts Department, Johnson went through the photos one by one and recognized the significance of the musicians and music festivals that Bolton had photographed.
"It was clear that these were a perfect fit for us," said Steve Weiss, head of the SFC. The SFC is devoted to the study of American folk music and popular culture. It holds large collections of recordings and documents from major music festivals including the Old Time Fiddlers Convention, a festival of traditional music held in Union Gove, NC that Bolton photographed.
The Robert Bolton Collection is now part of the SFC, a gift from Johnson and Shane Bolton, the photographer's son. The 18,000 prints and negatives will be ready for research use early next year. The images will provide valuable documentary evidence to those studying life in the American South during the middle of the last century, Johnson said, as well as the artistic influence of better known photographers.
Shane Bolton, a resident of Rockwell, NC, believes his father would be surprised by the exhibit. "I really think the photography was a way that my father chronicled his life," he said. "He was his harshest critic and far too humble to think others might appreciate his work."
"The Untamed World: Photographs by Robert Bolton" will be on public display in the Manuscripts Department of Wilson Library through December 31, 2006. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.
For more information about the exhibition, call 962-1345. For information about the opening event, contact Liza Terll at 962-4207.
