Barbara Pyle

Barbara Pyle's name will no doubt be familiar to many of our American clients, in her capacity as an executive producer, film maker, environmental activist and media innovator. But back in the day, when Bruce was recording Born To Run, Barbara was there with her camera.

"I first saw Bruce and the E Street Band by accident, while photographing the Schaefer Music Festival on August 3, 1974. I was blown away by their music. For the next year, I drove to as many of their gigs as I could reach. They jokingly started calling me their “official unofficial photographer.” I was just expected to be there, and I almost always was—on my self-imposed mission to document this little known New Jersey band."

“You have to see the band. It should be on the cover [of ‘Born to Run’]. Scariest thing ever. You ain’t never seen faces like that in your life . . . .we were there for four days, and every single minute is on everybody’s face. The light comes through the window, it’s like ten in the morning, we’ve been up for days. We got a gig that night, we’re rehearsing, and what’s worse is I can’t even sing.” Bruce Springsteen, commenting on Barbara Pyle’s photograph “Dawn Rehearsal”

"I had the remarkable good fortune to spend most of the last “Born to Run” months in the studio with Bruce and the band. I had only stopped by Record Plant one night for a quick visit. Bruce was stuck on something, and for some unknown reason, it shifted. I became sort of a living “good luck” charm and was asked to be there many nights. I knew I was witnessing history in the making. They were trying for months to finish the album with the record company breathing down Bruce’s neck. “Born to Run” was their “one last chance to make it real.” Photographing Bruce and the Band on their ascent to superstardom was a hobby; but after being given such access, it became a mission. At six a.m. on this final day, they were still recording the last tracks for “Jungleland”—right up to dawn, when they went into their only rehearsal for the Born to Run tour, with their first show that same evening in Providence. After that four-day marathon, we were all completely wiped out. Sitting on the stairs with my Leica, I finally worked up the nerve to take a couple of frames. Then they broke out of there “to win.”

Barbara's limited edition photographs are available to purchase in a range of sizes.