William Snyder: It's Only Rock N' Roll

RIT City Art Space presents an exhibition highlighting some of School of Photographic Arts and Sciences Professor William Snyder's best shots across 50-plus years of photographing concerts. Snyder has been the official photographer for The Who for over 18 years. In addition to The Who, Snyder's enthusiasm for photographing live music has has led to an impressive archive of images, capturing iconic performers from David Bowie to Amy Winehouse, Diana Ross, KISS on their first North American tour, and recent appearances by artists like Eddie Vedder, Joan Jett, and PINK.

The exhibition opens June 2 and runs through Aug. 6. A reception is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Friday, June 2, at RIT City Art Space.

Snyder is an American photojournalist and former Director of Photography for The Dallas Morning News, where he won four Pulitzer Prizes for his photography and editing work. In 2008, Snyder returned to his alma mater, RIT, where he has overseen the photojournalism BFA option and currently oversees the advertising photography BFA option.

Snyder has been capturing live music for more than 50 years. In 2017, RIT City Art Space (formerly Gallery r) presented a solo exhibition of Snyder's photographs (Picturing The Who) capturing The Who's performance at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. His latest book, Join Together (With The Band), features over 200 pages of black and white and color photos from over 30 years of photographing The Who, including essays from Snyder about his adventures with the band. Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder contributed a moving forward about his love for The Who and Snyder's photos. Fifty percent of the profits from the book go to Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey's favorite charity, Teen Cancer America. The book is published by PSG Publishing.