Musical Motif
Detroit-born photographer Lynn Goldsmith
is among many artist exploring rock musician
Bruce Springsteen's car and highway metaphors
in exhibition at Cranbrook Art Museum.
Goes for a Ride, New Jersey and Bruce Springsteen at
Hubcap Heaven, both taken in 1978, stops at the
Cranbrook Art Museum June 7-Aug. 31.
Besides chauffeuring 70 images taken by many
wo lifestyle pictures of Bruce
celebrated
photographers — besides Goldsmith,
Springsteen, shown in the touring
they include Annie Liebovitz, Pamela Springsteen
exhibit "Springsteen — Troubadour of
(Bruce's sister), David Gahr, Joel' Bernstein, David
the Highway," fit right in with the
Michael Kennedy, Edie Baskin, David
lifestyle of their photographer, Lynn
Rose and Frank Stefanko — the multi-
Goldsmith.
Lynn Goldsmith:
media display carries videos, music and
While Springsteen is known for steer-
"Bruce Springsteen
presentations about the singer-song-
ing cars and car travel into his rock songs Goes for a Ride,
writer,
who despite a popular miscon-
and offstage life, Goldsmith connects
New Jersey," 1978
ception, is not Jewish.
with autos and music because of her
"I'm a Motor City girl, and I still have
Detroit-Motown background.
relatives I see there every few years," says
She gained a special underStanding of the person
Goldsmith, 54, whose parents decided to move to
in the driver's seat of the exhibit through a time
Florida while she was still attending Mumford
when the two were hitting the road to romance
High School and taking part in activities at Temple
together.
Beth El.
The exhibit, with Goldsmith's Bruce Springsteen
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
T
<IN
6/ 6
2003
64
"Both images were made in New Jersey cities,
which I find to be quite a bit like Detroit. I'm
comfortable in those places because they feel like
home to me."
Goldsmith's first image, which shows Springsteen
in a Corvette, references the Chevy model that
moves along in many of his lyrics about cars and
adolescent love. Her second image, at a commercial
hubcap display, was more spontaneous, with
Goldsmith deciding to pull out her camera in a
place that was to be a casual destination with
Springsteen.
"I did a book on Bruce in 1980 to raise money
for Save the Children," recalls Goldsmith, who has
published eight books of photos and done shoots
for magazines such as Newsweek, Rolling Stone and
Elle.
"I felt that Bruce represented the idea that one
should pursue dreams through hard work, and that
was what Save the Children was all about.
"The second book I did about Bruce, Springsteen:
Access All Areas, conveys what it's like to go on the
road with him. The book starts out with an image
in front of a small venue where they didn't even
spell his name right and finishes with a booking at
Madison Square Garden."
Goldsmith, who returned to her home state to
graduate from the University of Michigan in 1968,
early on picked up on her dad's picture-taking
hobby and had images published when she was still
in her teens.
Her focus on musicians came with the rise of the
rock movement, the way the sounds resonated with
her and dreams of becoming a singer.
Never one for the sidelines, Goldsmith per-
formed with the band Walking Wounded and
opened for people like Jimi Hendrix at Detroit's
Grande Ballroom. Later, she would return to
Michigan to manage and do the publicity shots for
the Flint group Grand Funk. Railroad.
After moving to New York at the behest of her
sister, painter Ellen Nieves, Goldsmith became
knowri as a photographer of rock 'n' roll artists,
although her subjects were much more varied. She
also became a songwriter and recording artist using
the name Will Powers and tried her hand at direct-
ing network television shows, including ABC in
Concert.
"I didn't plan any part of my career," says
Goldsmith, whose countless celebrity shots have
included Bob Dylan, Carly Simon, Mia Farrow
and Miles Davis. "I knew people who were artists
just like I was, and they -ended up becoming
famous. I met other people, and the pictures hap-
pened."
Before shooting a portrait, Goldsmith analyzes
who the person is and how that person would like
to see himself or herself. She creates an environ-
ment that's comfortable so her subject feels easy
about opening up.
"Being Jewish allows me to have a certain kind of
shorthand with people who come from the same
background," says the photographer, who has trav-
eled throughout Israel.
"Before I photographed [Jewish western swing
star] Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, I had this
feeling about him even though he wears a big cow-