Laura Levine

After returning to New York, Levine was hired as a photo researcher at New York Magazine and interned at the Village Voice, where she was frequently assigned to shoot bands. As a photographer for the UK music magazines NME and Sounds, she was occasionally assigned to shoot British bands as they came to the United States for the first time, and notably photographed The Clash at Bond's Casino over a five-day period in 1981. Levine freelanced for Interview, the New York Times, Trouser Press, Creem, and Musician and was hired as the photo editor and chief photographer for New York Rocker in 1980. In addition, Levine independently set up shoots with bands she was interested in and did early sessions with artists such as R.E.M., the B-52s, the Bangles, and the Dream Syndicate, and provided images for album artwork for releases by artists including X, The Replacements, Robyn Hitchcock, and Joan Jett.[7] Levine's photos were frequently shown in downtown New York galleries.[8]

In 1994, she stopped shooting, stating that it was because of the way the circumstances changed. In a 2011 interview, she said: "Portrait sessions were becoming fashion shoots; often the styling and makeup seemed more important than the artist. I sometimes found myself on huge soundstages, often with ten or fifteen people in the room, each with an opinion about what the artist or I should be doing. I missed the intimacy and authenticity of one-on-one sessions. I was losing control of my images and what I wanted to accomplish. I could see where the industry was headed, packaging and marketing artists, and it lost its appeal to me."[9][10]

In 2010, Levine's photographs were featured in Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present, which originated at the Brooklyn Museum. In 2011, Steven Kasher Gallery signed Levine to their roster of artists presented Musicians, Levine's first solo gallery exhibition. The exhibit featured more than 35 vintage and modern photographs from Levine's archives, included one-of-a-kind gelatin silver prints.[1][8]

Although her primary emphasis was on photography, throughout her career Levine has worked in other mediums, including painting, illustration, and animation. While she was shooting, she focused on the visual arts, and illustrated Shake, Rattle & Roll: The Founders of Rock & Roll: The Founders of Rock & Roll, a children's book, with words by Holly George-Warren. She then painted a series of portraits of pioneers of country music, which she adapted for the children's book. Honky Tonk Heroes and Hillbilly Angels: The Pioneers of Country & Western Music. Levine's first picture book was Wig!, a collaboration with the B-52s.[11]

Levine's style as a painter and illustrator was described as "naif" by Kirkus Reviews, and the New York Post wrote that her "vibrantly colored paintings would look right at home on the walls of a folk art museum."[12][13] Her illustrations, which appeared in Time and New York Magazine, in addition to other publications, were similarly praised.[14][15]

The illustrations Levine created for Shake, Rattle & Roll were exhibited nationally at galleries and museums including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, EMP Museum in Seattle, Yard Dog Folk Art in Austin, and the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, Texas. Her paintings of rock and roll pioneers are in the permanent collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.[16]

Levine directed several music videos,[17] and worked with R.E.M. and other Athens, Georgia musicians on the Super-8 underground film, Just Like A Movie. She produced and directed two documentaries: Peekaboo Sunday, which was screened in competition at the Sundance Film Festival[18] and Digging for Dutch, which won the New York City Film Project's 2001 Torchlight Award for Best Feature-Length Film.[16]

• Musicians, Steven Kasher Gallery, New York City (2011)
• Duncan Miller Gallery, Los Angeles, California (2007)

• American Cool, The National Portrait Gallery / Smithsonian Institution
• Looking at Music 3.0, The Museum of Modern Art, New York City (2012)
• Backstage Pass: Rock & Roll Photography, The Currier Museum of Art, Machester (2012)
• Who Shot Rock and Roll: A Photographic History, The Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, California (2012)
• Open for the Stone, Volume 2, Harper's Books, East Hampton, New York (2012)
• Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio (2012)
• Fifty Years of Rock n' Roll: Women Who Made Rock, Adris Gallery, Rovinj, Croatia (2011)
• Vivienne Westwood 1980-1989, The Museum of FIT, New York City (2011)
• Hip-Hop, A Cultural Odyssey, The Grammy Museum, Los Angeles, California (2011)