Woodstock 1969 immortalised on film by iconic photographer Baron Wolman 

Date
29 June 2016

Fresh off the heels of Glastonbury and start of the festival season, Proud Camden has announced a new exhibition of Baron Wolman’s photographs of Woodstock.

Woodstock remains the preeminent experience in the annals of music. Held over a weekend in 1969, the one-time music festival attended by half a million people is cited as a pivotal turning point in musical and popular culture.

“I thank the photo gods who put me and my cameras there, and gave me the foresight to immortalise the moment in pictures,“ says Baron Wolman.

His black and white photos captured the spirit of the festival for posterity, depicting events large and small, from a couple playing guitar while they wait in a queue of cars on the highway to the festival, to bands on stage commanding the crowds and oceans of people piled into the fields watching in awe.

Touted as “three days of peace and music”, Baron explains: ”Woodstock 1969 proved to me and to the world how society could have been, filled with peace, love and music.”

Baron Wolman is a photography institution, most famous for photographing music icons from Ike & Tina Turner to Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix to the Rolling Stones and AC/DC. Having started out his career as a photo-essayist, capturing life behind the newly constructed Berlin Wall, he went on to work for Rolling Stone as a photographer, then chief photographer, before founding counterculture fashion magazine Rags.

Announcing the show, Proud Camden said: “Woodstock by Baron Wolman brings together a collection of iconic images that have come to epitomise our collective cultural memory, showcasing a revolutionary moment in the history of music and one of the greatest events to have ever occurred.”

Woodstock by Baron Wolman will be on display at Proud Camden from 28 July – 11 September.

Above

A couple play the guitar sitting on their car on the way to the Woodstock Festival, August 1969 © Baron Wolman

Above

Crowd Lying on the grass at the Woodstock Festival, August 1969 © Baron Wolman

Above

A group of young women sit on the grass next to the 17B West Road at the Woodstock Festival, August 1969 © Baron Wolman

Above

A group of people walk down the road at the Woodstock Music Festival, August, 1969 © Baron Wolman

Above

The Woodstock Festival was billed as ‘An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music’ in Woodstock, August 1969 © Baron Wolman

Share Article

About the Author

Jamie Green

Jamie joined It’s Nice That back in May 2016 as an editorial assistant. And, after a seven-year sojourn away planning advertising campaigns for the likes of The LEGO Group and Converse, he came back to look after New Business & Partnerships here at It’s Nice That. Get in touch with him to discuss new business opportunities, and how we can work together on creative partnerships, insights, experiences or advertising.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.