Photographer Danny Clinch Captures Music Legends on Film

Steve Adubato goes one-on-one with music photographer, Danny Clinch, about his experience co-directing the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival, where his photography exhibit “Transparent” is featured. Danny also shares stories about photographing notable music icons such as Bruce Springsteen, Tupac Shakur, Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam and David Bowie.

6/20/17 #2052

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"Welcome to the Tisch WNET Studio here in the heart of Lincoln Center, New York City. It is our honor and pleasure to introduce for the first time a very talented young man. He is Danny Clinch. He is a music photographer. But you are so much more than that. And you were just telling me that you grew up in beautiful Toms River, New Jersey. True. Yeah. And you're still hanging out there? I am. Yeah. When did you know right away that you loved photography? My mother took photographs all the time and I just sort of was interested in it. And I was always drawing. Always involved in the arts. I loved music and as time went on, I ended up permanently borrowing a camera from my buddy across the street and just really fell in love with photography and started to really sneak my camera into concerts all the time and when people started to ask me... my family really. My mom and my dad, what is it you want to do. We'll support it, whatever it is, I decided to go to school for photography. Up in Boston? I went 2 years to Ocean County College and then I went to New England School of Photography in Boston. You just finished up the film festival down in Asbury Park. Talk about that music and film festival. It's a great festival. It was started about music in film and then became music and film because we had such a strong response. We had so many good people coming out to represent. The idea overall is music education in Asbury Park to help serve the underserved youth in Asbury which has been a great thing. Some of the bands... we had a Don Cheadle film last year. He went and spoke with the students. The preservation hall jazz band went and played for the students. Excuse me... the Don Cheadle film about...? Miles Davis. Oh my God. It was incredible. What a great film. Yeah. That was last year and to see the kids... the looks on their faces and to be able to offer them instruments and give them something to strive for is a big deal and it was really cool to be a part of it. This year was incredible. It was a lot of great energy. There was "Before the Dawn" - a film about the upstage in Asbury Park where Bruce Springsteen met the E Street Band and they were going to have a jam there. Well, it turns out, who shows up for the jam? Little Steven shows up for the jam..."