Press Release
Contacts:
Chris Phillips, editor
Backstreets
editor@backstreets.com
(919) 968-9466
Kathleen DiChiara, President & CEO
Community Foodbank of New Jersey
kdichiara@njfoodbank.org
(908) 355-3663
Eleven photographers who have made many of the iconic images of Bruce
Springsteen have come together to raise money for the Hurricane Sandy relief
efforts in New Jersey.
On Wednesday, November 14, twenty spectacular prints from throughout
Springsteen's career — ranging from the album cover of Nebraska to the album
cover of The Promise, including several with the dear departed Clarence
Clemons — will be displayed at the Springsteen fan site Backstreets.com. Fans
who make a $25 donation to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey will have a
chance at bringing home a spectacular present for the holidays. Through
December 10, each $25 given provides another chance at owning one of these
original photographs. Many are one-of-a-kind artist's proofs, and all are signed by
the photographer. One is even a rare platinum palladium print, and most of them
have never been offered before.
"Santa Claus is comin' to town," says Backstreets editor and publisher
Christopher Phillips, whose site www.backstreets.com will host the
Photographers for Sandy Relief effort and have the images on display. Among
the shots is one by photographer Lynn Goldsmith of Springsteen grinning at the
camera, as he was stopped for speeding on Highway 9 in central New Jersey in
1978. Another, by photographer Danny Clinch, shows a backstage hallway with
Clemons's saxophone resting symbolically next to Springsteen's guitar. One of
the rarer shots, by Pam Springsteen, shows her brother writing a song in one of
his famous notebooks, by window light.
"We've heard from Springsteen fans from all over who've wanted to help out in
the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy," Phillips continues. "People are particularly
concerned about the Jersey Shore, the setting for so many of Bruce's songs as
well the home of so many of his fans. The chance at owning one of these brilliant
images can only help encourage and galvanize the support that's out there, and
the FoodBank is an organization well-positioned to help displaced families and
people in need."
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey
(www.cfbnj.org)
affected by the storm. Over 100,000 pounds of food are being distributed each
day to crisis centers and its more than 1,000 partner agencies throughout the
state. The incredible need for food and other grocery items, however, has
severely depleted the FoodBank’s inventory.
Photographers for Sandy Relief has a precedent: in 2009 many of the same
photographers came together for the first time to raise money for the FoodBank
as their funds ran low. That effort resulted generating more than $135,000.
As photographer Eric Meola puts it, "Bruce is about the fans, and the fans are
about Bruce. He is the voice of our generation, and his music has followed many
of us through our lives. his is our small way of thanking those fans and of
sharing our work with them, as well as making them aware of their responsibility
in honoring the message in the music that influenced who we are."
The eleven photographers are:
Danny Clinch, Lynn Goldsmith, David Michael Kennedy, Jo Lopez , Eric Meola,
Neal Preston, Barbara Pyle, A.M. Saddler, James Shive , Pam Springsteen, and
Frank Stefanko.
Each of their prints, donated specifically for the cause, can be viewed at
www.backstreets.com/
