By Emma Barhydt
For fifty years, a box of photographs sat in the attic of a Fairfield County home. Inside were hundreds of black-and-white negatives—images of Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Kris Kristofferson, Todd Rundgren, and The Rolling Stones—taken by a young man who, at the time, was simply doing his job.
That man was Michael Friedman, former assistant to 1960s music manager Albert Grossman, later a record executive and artistic entrepreneur. Between 1968 and 1973, he carried a Pentax camera through dressing rooms, rehearsal spaces, and recording studios, documenting the unguarded lives of musicians who would go on to define American rock and roll.
On November 15, Greenwich Art + Design, in collaboration with ClockJack Productions, will unveil BACKBEAT—The Lost Photography of Michael Friedman, an exhibition of “never-before-seen, limited edition, black and white, fine art prints of rock n’ roll icons taken from 1968–1973.” The show runs from November 11 through January 4, 2026, at 7 East Putnam Road.
The story of the collection’s rediscovery is its own kind of legend. “After being hidden away in a box of business record for 50 years,” Friedman’s “long-lost negatives from his music industry adventures were recently discovered by his
wife, Donna Vita, in the attic of their Fairfield County home.” Together, “they restored and developed the photographs which would go on to be displayed in an exhibit in The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame from 2019–2020.”
The images i n BACKBEAT capture what few photographers of the era could reach. “He was same age as his subjects of the time, serving as their handler, their consultant and their friend.” That closeness gave Friedman access that was personal rather than professional. He “would go on to capture backstage moments no other photographer would be able to capture, armed with his Pentax camera and his subjects’ trust.”
“‘BACKBEAT’ presents a rare opportunity to experience these lost photographs,” the exhibition announcement explains, “showcasing Friedman’s remarkable eye for vulnerability, joy and energy between friends who would unknowingly go on to become American icons.”
At the November 15 opening reception, Friedman himself will attend and “discuss the stories behind the pictures.” The evening will include an artist talk where “he will share insights into his adventures in the music industry [and] the incredible stories behind the shots displayed.”
“Michael’s shots are a glimpse backstage, showing epic rock icons in a light no one has ever seen them,” says curator and producer P.J. Griffith of ClockJack Productions. “Up until now, no one has ever seen these spectacular moments in rock from within the eye of the hurricane that was the late 60’s and early 70’s. We are excited to share them with fans, both old and new.”
BACKBEAT is an invitation to remember what endures— the patience of film, the trust between artist and subject, and the rediscovery of a time when music was still becoming itself. On the walls of Greenwich Art + Design, those moments will play again, not as myth but as memory, developed at last into view.
