Is the imagery of the Electric Collage still alive?
The influence of the imagery used in light shows during that era can be seen in much of the landscape of electronic media today. The millions of young people who saw the light shows carried the pictures into their careers and the world. Similar complex, dynamic images are used in almost every TV show or movie in the new millennia.
A fan said it best when he pulled the light show right out of his head 35 years later....
"Hello Steve,
A journalist named Malcolm contacted me by e-mail in 2000 about my memories of Atlanta Pop Festival II. I think he was putting something together in connection with the Allman Bros.
I sketched out my memories in a return e-mail, closing with this paragraph: "One final distinctive memory involves the magic of the light shows. Whoever was responsible for the utter, trans formative beauty of those shows I wish I could reach across 30 years to thank. The shows were gorgeous, transfixing and poignant. I can still remember the projected figure of a small, stately ballerina as she pirouetted over and over amidst the swirls of moving colors and layered imagery. She kept her balance so exquisitely."
So thanks mucho Steve, for creating such an extraordinary experience for me. It was truly blissful.
Best regards,
Brad
West Virginia"
Steve replies, "Thank you Brad. I am glad you liked it enough to keep the pictures alive in your head for so many years. You describe the images as clearly as if you saw them yesterday. The ballerina film was shot one cold winter day in Piedmont Park in Atlanta Georgia about 1968 or 69. She was on a hill with the sun and winter tree limbs in the background. I used the film technique many times with other images to create the layered look of the Electric Collage. I still have the film of the ballerina."
"If you know where the sixties went let me know. The new millennium is stressing me out and I need a dose of peace and love."
Cheers,
Steve
I have received other emails and will be starting a guest book soon. A few are from fans that remember the show and had some kind words.
I talked to Frank Hughes in 2005 when I posted the web site and invited him to contribute. On the phone he recollected a story about blowing up the Georgian Terrace's electrical panel while hooking up our power feed. This was about 4 hours before the "Turkey Trip" with the Allman brothers. The ending of this story will be revealed later.
I could not recall or locate all of the folks who were on the fringes of the light show. Some of them contributed ideas and helped put on the show. Then there is another group that provided support in other ways. I would like to hear from them all so I can fully fill in the story of a sixties style light show.
Missing folks include Bucky Weatherall who helped start and was a participant for the first few months of the light show. No one seems to be able to locate him. And various independent 1960's filmmakers around Atlanta that I was friends with but can't remember much more than a face or first name were involved in some brain storming sessions. I need to hear from any of them so I can add more stories.
In 2007 I heard from Haynes McFadden through a mutual friend. He has lived in Africa for a long while. He was part of the group that provided support in other ways. He was from a wealthy family but did not provide financial support. He was generous and shared a house with Frank and I with the light show equipment. We paid him rent and were there a few years.
Haynes was a wedding photographer using his Hassleblad. He had a black and white darkroom we helped build and he shared with us. He had a fine selection of cameras and shared them with me. A Nikon F system and Bell and Howell 16mm camera are some items I remember borrowing.
Since he was a college friend of Frank's he got to do all the band photography for the bands Frank managed. Mostly posed promotional shots with a few performance shots. In his recent contact with his friend he was kind enough to share a light show picture from one of our very first gigs. I will post it soon. He has offered to share his recollections and more photos later.
Bill Hardin, an Atlanta resident and participant in the sixties culture, has many posters of the era. He is collecting other pictures from the sixties and has a pretty good exhibition he is working on. He displayed it at a gathering of Atlanta sixties folks in July 2007 at the Margaret Mitchell House in the old hippie district. He has offered to share some of the posters that have the light show mentioned on them and we hope to be posting them soon.
Please, if you have anything or stories related to the sixties in Atlanta or Georgia get them to me and I will get them to the right folks. You can have your photo exhibited with your name on it at the next sixties gathering in Atlanta. Rumor has it there are going to be a couple of these events yearly. The old band members are there, The Great Speckled Bird folks and more. Click on this link for more information: Atlanta Georgia project to document the local 60's era of "The Strip",
a section of Peachtree where the alternative and hippie culture gathered.
Read more about today's visual music artists at the Center for Visual Music
You will find links to many other artists under their "Artists Links"
and schedule for events on their main page.
Back to Home Page email: steve@electriccollage.com
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