Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen

Bob Gruen, a camera-loving kid growing in '40s and '50s New York, later became a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, learning how to wait patiently for a shot to grab the essence of his subjects. With an apparent love for rock 'n' roll music (though this isn't really stated), Gruen made a name for himself photographing Ike and Tina Turner when a one-shot, multi-image photo of Tina gyrating on-stage became a sensation. By staying out late into the night after concerts, Gruen managed to move effortlessly between different musical acts and genres, gaining acceptance among the celebrities by not shoving his camera in their faces. This documentary for UK television spends much of its running-time displaying photos Gruen took of John Lennon and Yoko Ono--walking, laughing, holding up their baby--with whom he'd forged a trusting friendship. There are amusing comments from guests Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, but not a lot of insight into the other celebrities (those shown and those not shown). There's not much else on Gruen, either; he's just a nice guy with a keen eye who lucked into work he loved. ** from ****

Fans of NYC 70s rock, post-Beatles-Lennon, and music from 65-80 in general may well enjoy a good hour of rock nostalgia. As one would expect, there is a plethora of fantastic rock shots and behind-the-scenes bits here and there.

Alas, there comes a point where it starts retreading the same ground and all we hear is a bunch of non-photographers rehash what they think photography means. It feels endless. It should have all been outtakes, but no, it seems someone felt a need to pad this out past the 90 minute mark when they should have been satisfied at 60. They could have even stretched to 70 if the stopped there, but it kept going. Even the photos get recycled so that we see the /same/ picture of LedZep, and the /same/ picture of The Who and on and on.

Still, that first hour was quite enjoyable. New York Dolls, Blondie, fun.