From billboard.com (link:[
www.billboard.com])
Wyman Captures Classic Rockers On Film
A photo exhibit opening today (June 9) shows what former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman was up to when he didn't have his bass in his hands.
"Wyman Shoots," which premieres at the San Francisco Art Exchange, features Wyman's candid photos of the Stones -- individually and collectively -- as well as other performing friends such as Eric Clapton, members of the Who, Ringo Starr, John Lee Hooker and Taj Mahal.
"They're all just ad lib shots," says Wyman, who left the Stones in 1992. "I didn't like posing people, so they were never set up with the right light and everything, the way a professional photographer would do it. So all my what you would call portraits are people just behaving normally and me getting the right moment to get a shot of them."
Wyman, who was given his first camera after World War II by an uncle, culled the exhibition from 22,000 images he's taken over the years. Most, not surprisingly, were of the Stones, he says, "because that was where I had my spare time. I would shoot particularly Charlie [Watts] and Ronnie [Wood], because they didn't mind having photos taken. Mick [Jagger] and Keith [Richards] were a bit more, 'Oh, don't take any more photos, Bill.' But I've got quite a lot of Mick and Keith at various times, and they're all complimentary."
Wyman has edited several photo books of others' works and plans to publish one of his own in the near future. After its run in San Francisco, "Wyman Shoots" will move to Rotterdam, Holland, in September and is scheduled to be on display in London in the spring of 2007. Wyman stopped flying in 1990 so won't be attending the exhibit in San Francisco, though he will take part in a Q&A session via satellite at a VIP reception on June 17.
Wyman is staying busy beyond the exhibition, too. He continues to perform European dates with his band, the Rhythm Kings, and played on a track for Peter Frampton's upcoming album, "Fingerprint," which is due Sept. 12 via New Door/A&M. He recently edited the British book "The Stones: A History in Cartoons" that's slated to be published in the U.S. in October. He's working on several other book projects and also invented a metal detector for children that will be rolled out later this year.
Could be an interesting exhibit. Perhaps someone could go and give us a review?
I enjoyed this line from the article: "A photo exhibit opening today (June 9) shows what former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman was up to when he didn't have his bass in his hands." My immediate reaction was that anyone who read his bio knows what Wyman was up to when he didn't have a bass in his hands - shagging groupies. That and balancing his bank statement.