In Celebration of Black History Month, GME Highlights Photographer Hugh Bell and The Kamoinge Workshop

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In Celebration of Black History Month, GME Highlights Photographer Hugh Bell and The Kamoinge Workshop

In 1955, Edward Steichen, then Director of the Photography Department at MoMA, mounted an exhibition of images from around the world as a “manifesto for peace and the fundamental equality of mankind.” That exhibition, titled The Family of Man, quickly became a 20th century cultural phenomenon and was added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World register in recognition of its historical value. “Hot Jazz” (pictured here) by Black photographer Hugh Bell (1927—2012) was selected for this ambitious exhibit. This Black History Month, GME highlights Bell’s impressive body of work (namely his suite of images of Jazz Greats from the 1950s) and his influence on the Kamoinge Workshop.

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GME Remembers Mary Weiss, Lead Singer of The Shangri-Las

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GME Remembers Mary Weiss, Lead Singer of The Shangri-Las

GME remembers singer Mary Weiss, best known as the frontwoman of the 1960s girl group The Shangri-Las, who passed away on January 19th, 2024, at the age of 75. The cover photo for The Shangri-Las’ first album, Leader of the Pack, was taken by photographer Hugh Bell, whose vast collection GME represents. Notably, GME licensed Bell’s Leader of the Pack cover art for the 2022 film Call Jane, a 1970s-set abortion drama directed by Phyllis Nagy and starring Elizabeth Banks, which features the LP in one of its scenes.

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GME Remembers Iconic Actor Richard Roundtree

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GME Remembers Iconic Actor Richard Roundtree

On Tuesday, October 24th, 2023, actor Richard Roundtree died at the age of 81 following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.  A pioneering performer who broke down barriers for Black actors, Roundtree was photographed at the height of his fame by Hugh Bell, a photographer who broke down barriers for Black visual artists and whose body of work GME exclusively represents.

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A Look at GME's Hugh Bell Photo Collection In Honor of LGBTQ+ History Month

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A Look at GME's Hugh Bell Photo Collection In Honor of LGBTQ+ History Month

On the occasion of October being LGBTQ+ History Month, GME reflects on gems from our photo collections that were taken by queer photographers and/or spotlight the beauty and diversity of queer communities over the past several decades. First up is Hugh Bell, a highly-prolific visual artist whose candid images of LGBTQ+ community members in the 1980s and ‘90s remain potent historical artifacts.

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Never-Before-Seen Footage Offers Intimate Portrait of Thelonious Monk in Paris Showing at BAM Mar 10-16

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Never-Before-Seen Footage Offers Intimate Portrait of Thelonious Monk in Paris Showing at BAM Mar 10-16

A wealth of never-before-seen footage in offers a gripping and intimate portrait of Thelonious Monk in Paris, 1969. The legendary pianist and composer arrives for a TV interview before his evening concert, where he is met with racist, colonialist acts both large and small.

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African American Life and Legends Photographed by Jack Mitchell

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African American Life and Legends Photographed by Jack Mitchell

To celebrate Black History Month this year, GME would like to share some of the many outstanding photographs by Jack Mitchell of African American artists and individuals taken during his half century professional career chronicling a unique history of creators in the fields of dance, theater, music, the fine arts, and film and television.

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Hugh Bell’s Iconic Photo Hot Jazz (1952) Installed at the Museum of Modern Art

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Hugh Bell’s Iconic Photo Hot Jazz (1952) Installed at the Museum of Modern Art

Hugh Bell’s iconic photograph Hot Jazz  (1952) was exhibited in Edward Steichen’s groundbreaking exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, The Family of Man, in 1955.  Now, for the first time since then, this photograph is currently installed in MoMA”s Gallery 402, which is dedicated to the theme In and Around Harlem.

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Recent Raimondo Borea and Hugh Bell Photo Licenses and Exhibition News

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Recent Raimondo Borea and Hugh Bell Photo Licenses and Exhibition News

GME has licensed two of Raimondo Borea’s unique, behind the scenes photos of Dave Garroway, the original host and Anchor of NBC’s TODAY for an upcoming Bear Manor Media book by Jodie Peeler, and 3 iconic jazz photographs by Hugh Bell of Thelonious Monk, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday for the new edition of 'ReFraming: REFLECTIONS IN BLACK,' Deborah Willis updating of her 2000 groundbreaking pictorial collection of African American life.

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Now Playing: GME Licenses Footage for Jonas Mekas Doc FRAGMENTS OF PARADISE and Hugh Bell’s Album Cover Photograph for Abortion Drama DEAR JANE

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Now Playing: GME Licenses Footage for Jonas Mekas Doc FRAGMENTS OF PARADISE and Hugh Bell’s Album Cover Photograph for Abortion Drama DEAR JANE

FRAGMENTS OF PARADISE is a story about finding beauty amidst profound loss, a story of a man who was also the most significant force behind the evolution and promotion of the American Avant-Garde film movement, and who tried to make sense of it all…with a camera. GME licensed numerous clips of Mekas filming with his camera from Gideon Bachmann's UNDERGROUND NEW YORK (1968), a rare behind-the-scenes view of the exploding New York “underground” in the late sixties, a turbulent time and place that was to change American culture forever.

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