SO reader Dominique Davis, on a recent visit to Amsterdam, walked into a gallery called Rockarchive and came face to face with images of Bob Marley. “It was an incredible experience,” she shared. “I could hardly believe what I was seeing.” What she was seeing was a single portrait, a triptych of portraits showing the development of the smile, and an A1-size composition of the original contact sheets reflecting the different moods of Marley.

It has taken a few weeks, but here we are today with not only the exclusive images of Marley but also, thanks to Sjef van Wietingen, the fascinating story of Gallery Rockarchive and the acquisition of the Marley portraits…

Strolling along the canals in the old city, on the corner of two canals, on the Prinsengracht, one of the main canals in the heart of Amsterdam, you’ll happen upon a breathtaking photo of Bob Marley. It is in fact, a triptych of portraits, which gives the impression of looking into Marley’s soul. The three portraits show Marley in deep thought, with a look of recognition and, finally, with a full smile. The photograph is in the window of a gallery called Rockarchive.

Be prepared, on entering the gallery, to be overcome by memories and emotions. Straight ahead are the heroes of rock & roll and jazz, from Miles Davis to the Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse to Bob Marley. The gallery owner, Michelle Lemesle, is a Frenchwoman who moved to Amsterdam 30 years ago. A music veteran of 20 years, she decided 10 years ago to start her own business – translating her love for music and art into an amazing gallery with music photography. Starting with an existing collection, she quickly expanded the collection with photographs from the Netherlands, France, Belgium and the USA, from photographers who all worked for big magazines and the music industry, producing images for record sleeves and articles on the icons of rock, reggae and jazz. One of the amazing star photographers of the gallery is French Jean-Pierre Leloir. Leloir started taking photos in the Paris jazz clubs in the Fifties and witnessed the rise of rock & roll in the Sixties. He was one of the founders of the French music magazine Rock & Folk and worked with the greats of the business until the Eighties. For his body of work he was rewarded by the French ministry of culture with the knighthood in fine arts.

When Lemesle stepped into his Parisian studio, she was stunned to discover the great pains he had gone to in order to record his work, both alphabetically and by date. There were, too, a number of classic images which she knew from record sleeves or from publications. Leloir is known for his jazz archive and his work with singer/song-writer Jacques Brel, but she found masterpieces of Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa and a superb shot of Jamaican icon Bob Marley. The picture of Marley was one of a series taken during the Sunsplash festival in Jamaica in 1979. Leloir explained the genesis of the photo. He told Lemesle that the bands had been rehearsing when suddenly there was a heavy rainstorm. Marley went and sat in his van, waiting for the weather to clear up. Somebody passed the van and made a remark that caused Marley to turn his head and smile. The photograph shows Marley in one of those rare, intimate moments. You can recognise the bright colours of Jamaica, the shape of the Volkswagen van, and the raindrops on the window add further dimension. Leloir did not want to give this picture to the gallery because every print he produced was done by hand in his own darkroom. Besides, Leloir did not like large portraits. It took a lot of persuasion to finally get Leloir to produce the print in an outside laboratory in Paris. Indeed, before Leloir’s death in 2010, he thanked Lemesle for producing the most beautiful BMW ever: Bob Marley & the Wailers!

Then, in 2013 an English photographer, Brian Moody, visited the gallery and asked Lemesle if she was interested in acquiring a few Bob Marley photos. As they went through the contact sheets an idea was conceived. Moody had been assigned to interview Bob Marley in late 1976. In fact, Marley had just moved to London after being shot in Jamaica. The complete series of shots was so amazing that Lemesle decided, together with Moody, to produce a triptych of portraits showing the development of the smile and an A1-size composition of the original contact sheets, giving intriguing insight into the different moods and expressions of Marley.

Dutch Masters Part 2

That aside, Lemesle also works with a number of Dutch photographers including Gijsbert Hanekroot, who was the photographer for Oor, the leading Dutch music magazine, in the seventies. Hanekroot claims he was too late for Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin but he had all the other greats in front of his lens. Hanekroot had a young assistant in the late-Seventies, called Anton Corbijn, from whom he learned a thing or two before Corbijn hit the big time as a result of his work with U2 – and nowadays as a film director. Hanekroot’s work was used for several record sleeves including Neil Young, Tom Waits and many others. His portrait of Keith Richards is stunning and his live shot of Bob Marley was chosen by the Dutch Bob Marley fan club as the best Bob Marley picture.

Another head-turner in the gallery is a live shot of Amy Winehouse, taken in the Amsterdam concert hall Paradiso (a former church). The picture was taken by Dutch photographer Andreas Terlaak and won him the Silver Camera, the highest Dutch photography award.

One more member of the club of 27, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana stares right through you in the gallery. This is the work of Michel Linssen, during an unplugged session of Nirvana for Dutch television.

All in all, the photographs add something to the image of the artist: they either represent the atmosphere of a concert, catch the artist in an unexpected intimate moment or in a most spectacular setting. Rockphotography came about through static, posed portraits in the Sixties to more personal and intimate portraiture and also rough live shots in the Seventies and Eighties.

Artists and bands were still approachable in those days and open for some fun or simply willing to get exposure. Photographers with a good reputation could enter dressing rooms, hotel rooms, studios and work in front of the stage during the entire concert. Some of them were even wearing raincoats against the constant ‘rain’ of beer and body fluids. Record sleeves were an important selling item and the best photographers and graphic designers/artists were invited to produce the sleeve. Nowadays, photographers get the first two songs during a concert and the sleeve of a CD has lost most of the magic; in the digital era the image is hardly of any importance to an album anymore.

The Rockarchive Gallery harks back to the good old days when you would chase down to the record store on a Saturday afternoon where you’d shout at the top of your lungs and dance like crazy during a concert.

When I ask Lemesle if she still likes her adventure she replies, “I am on one of the most beautiful spots in Amsterdam. I have a product which is unique and wonderful and those who come here love music and art, so I can always share my passion and make people happy. What do you think?”

– By Sjef van Wietingen for the Style Observer

For more info on the pictures:

Rockarchive Amsterdam

nl@rockarchive.nl