Sat 4/19 @ 6-9PM
Sat 4/19-Fri 6/13
Back in the early 1970s, Anastasia Pantsios (now editor of CoolCleveland.com) came to Cleveland to earn her master’s degree in theater, planning to become a lighting designer. Unfortunately, at that time, theaters weren’t open to hiring women for most behind-the-scenes jobs. But she had also been writing and taking photos for the university newspaper, first for the theater, and then of the rock concerts that were then coming through Public Hall — Led Zeppelin, The Who, Black Sabbath, James Brown, Crosby Stills and Nash. And while the obstacles to women in music were also daunting, she parlayed that experience into a career both as a music writer (she penned a column and reviews for The Plain Dealer for 13 years) and as the premiere Cleveland-based music photographer.
Now some of her favorite images will fill BAYarts’ Sally Otto Gallery April 19-June 13 in a show titled Moments in the Spotlight, opening with a free public reception Saturday April 19 @ 6-9pm. The show will also include photos she’s chosen from three younger Clevelanders shooting music today — Joe Kleon, Denyce Renee and Judie Vegh.
From the late ’70s on, Anastasia’s photos of musicians, from major superstars to quirky cult artists, were distributed all over the world and seen in countless publications, on TV shows, in album covers and band merchandise. It was a time, with WMMS rising to be the most powerful radio station in the country and artists with one foot in superstardom playing debut gigs at the Agora, when Cleveland was a hot bed for rock & roll, and she was in the right place at the right time, catching future superstars early in their careers and superstars offstage in their visits to WMMS.
While her subjects— iconic artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Keith Richards, David Bowie, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar — were a key factor in the success of those images, her vision, infused with her background in theater and lighting design, were also a major element in her ability to produce those memorable photos.
“I always looked at a rock concert as theater,” she says. “And I shot with an eye on lighting and stage pictures — how artists were defined by the space around them and how lighting brought out the innate quality of their music. Obviously, a lot of people respond to a photo of a well-known musician based on their recognition of the subject — wow, that’s David Bowie! — but I always wanted my photos to work on another level as well, to engage a viewer even if they didn’t know who the subject was.”
By the late 80s when bands became more restrictive about photographers (currently many major artists demand they shoot from the back of the area, eliminating the ability to work with lighting and angles so key to Anastasia’s images), she began working with other subjects where she could still be creative. She photographed the former Cleveland Opera for eight years and spent about the same amount of time traveling around the country shooting professional wrestling for national magazines during its heyday in the 80s and 90s.
Focusing more on journalism (she worked with the Free Times and Scene and did a second stint as a freelancer for The Plain Dealer), she renewed her passion for photography in the digital era — “I don’t romanticize film the way some do,” she says. “It was expensive and a pain in the ass. Digital opened up a new world of creativity for me.” She shot news stories, food and even some music, this time focusing on local artists and club-level shows where onerous restrictions were lacking. And in 2011, thanks to a spontaneous visit to Scene from Cleveland Burlesque Queen Bella Sin, she began shooting Cleveland’s burgeoning burlesque scene, which she does to this day.
In the past decade, her work has leaned more toward urban street photography, which has roots in her Chicago upbringing (She says, “I scour those Vivian Maier photos of downtown Chicago crowds in the ’60s, hoping to catch a glimpse of myself as child”.) Her project of the last few years “Looking for the Opportunity,” explores the impact of that new boulevard on the neighborhood immediately surrounding it. She doesn’t see this work as a break from her music photography.
“Shakespeare said it: ‘All the world’s a stage’, and I see the urban environment that way,” she says. “It’s a setting in which people perform their lives.”
