MICHAEL WEINSTEIN

Michael Weinstein’s career began in 1978, after graduating from the University of Michigan with an English degree. During that time, Michael worked as a printer at the Ross-Ehlert Photo Lab (one of Chicago’s most well known) in the black and white film department. Simultaneously, the music scene in Chicago was bursting at the seams. New and exciting acts, including Rock and Roll, Blues and Punk as well as more established musicians were playing in a wider assortment of venues. It was an extremely exciting time, and a rare opportunity to be documenting all of the musical acts that were in Chicago. 

Weinstein spent his days at Ross-Ehlert printing for work, and most nights he would photograph shows and venues all over the Chicago area. On weekends, Michael would develop his film at a place known as The Darkroom - a communal darkroom dedicated to working with both amateurs and professionals. It was an inspirational home base for Weinstein as a young photographer, and a primary influence on his whole career. In the basement of The Darkroom was the office of  Photo Reserve, an agency that specialized in Rock and Roll photography and covered most of the musical venues in and out of the city. Photo Reserve provided Weinstein with access to almost every musical event in the city. As a result, Michael’s Rock and Roll photos appeared in local Chicago publications, as well as most of the major national music magazines including Rolling Stone.

Michael has had the good fortune to photograph full-time ever since. He has photographed portraits for practically every national magazine and has photographed fashion for numerous retailers. For the last 25 years, Weinstein grew his namesake MW Studio, into one of NYC’s top boutique Real Estate and architectural photography studios. 

After spending the past few years archiving all of his music photography from the special period of the late 70s and early 80s, Weinstein premiers this treasure trove of photos featuring some of Rock and Roll’s biggest stars. This collection  - sitting in storage for over 40 years, represents an opening into the past,  and has the quality of a time capsule. Michael wants people to be able to look at a single photo and tap into the emotional and visceral experience of being there. Michael is thrilled to share these images- when Rock and Roll was Rock and Roll!