James Brown by Richard E. Aaron

Photographer: Richard E. Aaron

Location: Harlem, NYC

Date: 1979

Brown performing in Harlem at a benefit street concert.

"Living in New York City, you have to be keen on where you walk and shoot. A photographer loaded down with equipment is an easy mark. I got a call from James Brown's record label to photograph him in Harlem for a benefit street concert. Cool, except the publicist said I better take the subway since the blocked-off streets prevented a taxi from getting anywhere close to the stage. I put everything I needed in a brown paper bag and took the subway up to the shoot; no one suspected that I was a photographer. The concert was incredible and the huge audience loved him. I got great preference shots for the label and I wanted to do something different. I went back stage when a song was over and yelled out 'James!' He turned around, saw me, and smiled."

Print Editions:

18x24 Edition 200

24x32 Edition 125

30x40 Edition 20