We’re kicking off the summer in psychedelic style. We are delighted to host the first ever solo UK show for Amalie R Rothschild, in house photographer at Bill Graham’s legendary Fillmore East theatre in New York from 1968 until it closed it’s doors in 1971. The exhibition at Snap coincides with the major summer exhibition at the Tate Gallery in Liverpool, ‘The Psychedelic Sixties’ , which features a selection of Amalie’s work.

For these three years the Fillmore was her unofficial home, the place where she was witness to the Who’s premiere of Tommy, Jimi Hendrix’s New Year’s Eve concerts, John and Yoko’s unexpected encore to a Frank Zappa gig, The Grateful Dead. Janis Joplin, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby Stills and Nash ( and Young ) and Pink Floyd amongst others. Away from the Fillmore she photographed many world renowned artists including Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones and was there with her camera at the festivals at Woodstock and the Isle of Wight.

At the Fillmore East, rock music became theatre and the swirling psychedelic light shows that formed the backdrop to the musical performances defined psychedelia in visual terms. The Joshua Light Show, and later, Joe’s Lights, the pioneering light shows that deservedly received separate billing on the Fillmore East marquee, were the best in the business. As Amalie reflects, “These light shows were performances in their own right. The people behind the scenes who manipulated film, overhead and slide projectors, colour organs, strobe lights and a wealth of other equipment were just as much performers as the musicians onstage.”

This exhibition is a real visual feast – Amalie employs a number of different presentational techniques, from classic handcrafted black and white silver gelatin photographs, to multi image shots, and contact sheet blow ups, and, of course, many of the photographs feature those incredible light shows. If this has whetted your appetite, please come and see the entire exhibition for yourself in our new enlarged gallery space. Everything is for sale, and Amalie will be at the show all day on the opening Saturday, 4 June and would be delighted to meet you.