Daniel Kramer is a New York-based photographer and
film director who is long recognized for his portraits and picture
stories in national and international magazines and books. Shortly
after opening his first studio in New York City, Daniel Kramer saw
Bob Dylan perform The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll on television
in 1964. Even after the show ended, Kramer couldn't shake the image
of Dylan from his mind. "I was completely taken by what this
man had done and how he had done it. His performance was perfect.
With simple, basic tools - his voice, a guitar, and a harmonica,
he drove his message deep into my mind. I was aware that I was seeing
a very important talent."
In August 1964, after months of phone calls and letters to Dylan's
manager, Albert Grossman, Kramer was given the opportunity to arrange
a portrait sitting in Woodstock, New York with the twenty-three-year
old performer who was by then in the process of becoming an international
star. The two men quickly developed a warm and trusting professional
relationship that allowed for many extraordinary photographic sessions.
"Photography has brought me into contact with many notable
people, including Presidents of the United States, and I have happily
had the opportunity to meet and talk with prominent people in all
walks of life," comments Kramer. "Although many of these
encounters were memorable, my association with Dylan has a special
meaning."
Many of these photographs were first published in Kramer's 1967
book bob dylan, the first major work about the performer-songwriter
(reprinted as Bob Dylan: A Portrait of the Artist's Early Years,
2001). They were also used on the album covers for Highway 61 Revisited
(1965), Biograph (1985) and Bringing It All Back Home (1965), which
was nominated for a Grammy and selected by Rolling Stone as one
of the "100 Greatest Album Covers of All Time." A number
of rare and previously unpublished pictures by Kramer also appear
in the 52-page booklet and packaging that accompanies Bob Dylan's
two-CD set, Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall - The Bootleg
Series, Volume 6 (2004) and on the cover of a three-CD boxed set
BOB DYLAN the collection (2004).
Daniel Kramer's photographs have also been exhibited or collected
by such museums as the Whitney Museum of American Art, The International
Center of Photography in New York, The Smithsonian's National Portrait
Gallery in Washington, D.C., The Experience Music Project in Seattle,
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, and in numerous
national and international galleries.
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