GME Licenses Hugh Bell’s Photographs of Billie Holiday for James Erskine Documentary

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GME Licenses Hugh Bell’s Photographs of Billie Holiday for James Erskine Documentary

Available in the U.S. as of December 4th, BILLIE (2020) is a documentary about the singer who changed the face of American music, and the journalist who died trying to tell her story. Directed by award-winning filmmaker James Erskine, the documentary is based on 200 hours of interviews conducted from 1970 to 1978 by journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl. Kuehl had intended to write a definitive biography of Holiday, and her research comprised interviews—taking up 125 audio cassette tapes—with Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Charles Mingus, and Sylvia Syms, among many other colleagues in the jazz world. She also spoke to Holiday’s cousin and childhood friends, as well as to her attorneys and the FBI agents who kept her under surveillance, due to both her drug use and her outspoken antiracism.

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GME Notes with Sadness the Recent Passing of Stanley Crouch

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GME Notes with Sadness the Recent Passing of Stanley Crouch

A prolific author, essayist, columnist and social critic, Crouch challenged conventional thinking on race and helped found Jazz at Lincoln Center. He proclaimed himself a “radical pragmatist,” defining it this way:

“I affirm whatever I think has the best chance of working, of being both inspirational and unsentimental, of reasoning across the categories of false division and beyond the decoy of race.”

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Common to Perform at Democratic National Convention

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Common to Perform at Democratic National Convention

Common, as depicted in this photo by Hugh Bell, is among the list of performers that will appear this week at the Democratic National Convention.

GME is also happy to share some of it’s images of historical Democratic party icons as photographed by Raimondo Borea.

GME is also pleased to present a rare audio recording during John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, which comes from GME’s archive of original campaign commercials for television and radio.

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RECENT LANDMARK SUPREME COURT RULING & HUGH BELL’S LGBT PHOTOGRAPHS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS

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RECENT LANDMARK SUPREME COURT RULING & HUGH BELL’S LGBT PHOTOGRAPHS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS

The recent landmark Supreme Court decision guaranteeing employment protection on a Federal level for the LGBTQ community underscores the contemporary relevance of a selection of photographs of African American gay and lesbians (pictured above and below), which were taken decades ago by photographer Hugh Bell (1927-2012).

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Iconic Sarah Vaughan Photo by Hugh Bell to be Included in Forthcoming Exhibition at the University of Minnesota Katherine E. Nash Gallery

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Iconic Sarah Vaughan Photo by Hugh Bell to be Included in Forthcoming Exhibition at the University of Minnesota Katherine E. Nash Gallery

Over the past several years, Gartenberg Media Enterprises (GME) has worked diligently to further the legacy of talented African-American artist Hugh Bell, whose photography career began in the early 1950s. We are pleased to announce that the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the Department of Art, University of Minnesota, will feature Hugh Bell’s work in their forthcoming exhibition projected for September of 2021, entitled “ A Picture Gallery of the Soul,” which will celebrate the work of African American photographers. The gallery, situated on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, also promotes art as a means to address the issues of social justice, especially relevant because of the murder of George Floyd in that city.

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National Museum of African American History and Culture Acquires Hugh Bell Photographs

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National Museum of African American History and Culture Acquires Hugh Bell Photographs

As Black History Month draws to a close, Gartenberg Media Enterprises (GME) is pleased to announce that the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has acquired six lifetime silver gelatin prints from the Hugh Bell archive for their permanent collection. Says GME Fine Arts Curator David Deitch, “In preserving the legacy of an artist, there is nothing more gratifying than the prestige that comes from a museum acquiring his work. We are especially pleased that NMAAHC, the premiere international institution dedicated to the history, culture and artistic achievements of the African American community, recognizes the significance of Hugh Bell ‘s photographs within this context.”

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GME Gem #13: Gartenberg Media Celebrates Pride Month 2019 with Photos by Hugh Bell

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GME Gem #13: Gartenberg Media Celebrates Pride Month 2019 with Photos by Hugh Bell

Hugh Bell (1927-2012) was born in New York to parents who emigrated from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. He spent a lot of time doing the thing he liked best, photographing jazz musicians, through which he gained notoriety while in his twenties. Hugh Bell also focused on documenting Gay Pride, Wigstock, and the Greenwich Village Halloween parade during the 1980s and 1990s.

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GME Gem #6: "Something in the photograph comes alive, tells a little story." - Hugh Bell

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GME Gem #6: "Something in the photograph comes alive, tells a little story." - Hugh Bell

Hugh Bell (1927-2012) spent a lot of time doing the thing he liked best, photographing jazz musicians. After graduating from NYU in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Cinematic Art, Bell’s iconic photo “Hot Jazz” was selected by Edward Steichen for inclusion in The Museum of Modern Art's landmark exhibition, The Family of Man, one of the most successful photographic exhibitions of all time.

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