In honor of Bob Marley’s birthday on February 6th, Govinda Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition, Soul Rebel: An Intimate Portrait of Bob Marley. Soul Rebel presents for the first time David Burnett’s extraordinary photographs of one of the most beloved and respected international musical artists of our time. On assignment for Time Magazine, Burnett first photographed Marley at his home in Jamaica in 1976 and continued to document Bob Marley and The Wailers on the Exodus tour in Europe while on their bus, in rehearsals, and during performances throughout Europe during the spring of 1977. Burnett’s award-winning talent, coupled with Marley’s larger-than-life charisma, resulted in this extraordinary collection of previously unseen photographs. Also included in the exhibition are compelling images of The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and more.

This exhibition celebrates the publication of Soul Rebel: An Intimate Portrait of Bob Marley (Insight Editions, 2009). Featuring David Burnett’s photographs and stories, published for the first time, Soul Rebel is sure to be a treasured book for music lovers around the world. Soul Rebel features a foreword by acclaimed author Chris Salewicz, one of the leading writers on Jamaican music and culture, as well as an introduction by Soul Rebel’s editor, author and curator Chris Murray.

Exhibit Photo Gallery. Click on an image to launch slideshow.

David Burnett launched his photographic career as an intern at Time magazine in 1967. From 1970 to 1972, he covered the Vietnam War as a staff photographer for Life magazine. In 1975, he co-founded Contact Press Images in New York. Traveling to more than 75 countries, Burnett has produced photographic essays for Time, Life, Fortune, The New Yorker, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, and many others. His awards include “Magazine Photographer of the year” from the Pictures of the Year Competition, the “World Press Photo of the Year,” and the Robert Capa Award from the Overseas Press Club, to name but a few.

Chris Salewicz has been writing on popular culture, particularly reggae and other world musics, for more than 20 years. He was a senior features writer for NME, has written for The Sunday Times, The Face, and Q magazine and wrote the authorized book Bob Marley: Songs of Freedom (with photographer Adrian Boot), and Rude Boy, a memoir about his relationship with the island of Jamaica, among many other books. Salewicz edited the booklet contained in the award-winning 4-CD box set Tougher Than Tough: The Story Of Jamaican Music, and co-wrote the script for the 1999 movie Third World Cop, which broke Jamaican box office records.

Chris Murray is the founder and director of Govinda Gallery and has organized over two hundred fifty exhibitions of paintings, drawings, and photographs many of which have traveled throughout the United States and abroad, including countries such as Germany, Spain, Ireland, England, the Netherlands, Mexico and Cuba. He has edited and authored over a dozen books and catalogues, including Between Midnight and Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive (Avalon Publishing Group/Insight Editions, 2003), Elvis at 21: New York to Memphis (Insight Editions, 2006), Knockout: The Art of Boxing (Insight Editions, 2008), and John and Yoko: A New York Love Story (Insight Editions 2008).

Share This Post »