Holdings Alumni Association Alumni Laurie Solomon Photographs Finding Aid By Daniel Meyer, JinKyung Lee, Carol Berthold
Title: Laurie Solomon Photographs, 1974-2018
ID: 26/20/217
Primary Creator: Solomon, Laurie (1942-)
Extent: 1.15 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement:
Materials are organized into three series.
Series 1) Music Photographs, 1983 to 1985 includes photographs of jazz performances taken at Nature's Table and photographs of local rock bands and performances. Materials are arranged chronologically, with undated material at the end.
Series 2) Non-Music Photographs and Portraits, 1974-2002, contains Solomon's commercial photography, travel photographs, photographs of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, family photographs, and community photographs from a News-Gazette series. Materials are arranged chronologically with undated material at the end.
Series 3) Digitial Data, 1985-2018, contains digital copies and born-digital master photographs, edited photographs, and videos. Materials are arranged alphabetically by folder title and chronologically therein.
Date Acquired: 03/15/2019
Subjects: Blues-rock music, Jazz, Local History, Nature's Table Restaurant, News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Photography, Popular Music--Illinois--Urbana-Champaign, Restaurants, Rock Music
Formats/Genres: Audio-Visual Material, Photographs
Languages: English
Consists of photographs and digital files taken by Laurie Solomon, documenting his work as a photographer and the local Urbana-Champaign music scene from 1974 to 2018. Note: Most of the photographs were taken at the Nature's Table restaurant after his time serving as its night manager. The photographs also include work from his portrait studio and work done as a commercial photographer, as well as vacation photographs, and photographs of family and friends. The digital files include videos, jpg edited files, and tiff master images.
Laurie Solomon (1942- ) was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Solomon graduated from the University of Delaware in 1964 with two undergraduate degrees in political science and sociology. After matriculating into the master's degree program in political science at the University of Illinois, he obtained ABD status on a PhD in political science in 1968. Although he never completed his dissertation, he was formally awarded his master's degree in 1976. Solomon took a variety of jobs in the early 1970s unrelated to his degree areas. It was through this exploration into other career options that he became fascinated with photographic technology and the chemical process of developing photographs. Solomon acted as a freelance photographer until 1984 when he opened his first studio. Although he was never formally trained as a photographer and never worked for a professional studio other than his own, Solomon cites Ed Dessen of Illini Studios, William Morrow of Gliessman Studios, and both Jerry Thompson and Lou McClellan of Thompson-McClellan Studios as influences to his success.
Around 1982, Solomon also became the night manager for Nature's Table. It was here that he began to use his skills as a photographer to capture some of the musical performances that were occurring at the Restaurant. Solomon has maintained an active interest in filming Jazz and Rock musicians throughout his career as a photographer and has shot photographs of such musicians and ensembles as: Shirley Blankenship, The John Campbell Trio, Ron Dewar, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, the Heartland Jazz Orchestra, Jeff Hegelson, Donnie Heitler, Dorothy Martirano, The New Orleans Jazz Machine, Morgan Powell, Peter "Madcat" Ruth, Ray Sasaki, Guido Sinclair, and Surreal Deal. In addition to his interest in filming musical performances, Solomon has also created photographic artworks, landscapes, and portraits. In the 1990s, he began receiving commercial, municipal, and private photography commissions from around the Champaign metropolitan area. As a result of local film distributors closing in the early 2000s, Solomon adopted methods of shooting digital photographs but has continued to shoot photographs in traditional ways as well.
Blues-rock music
Jazz
Local History
Nature's Table Restaurant
News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana
Photography
Popular Music--Illinois--Urbana-Champaign
Restaurants
Rock Music
Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
Alternate Extent Statement: 114 gigabytes
Acquisition Source: Laurie Solomon
Acquisition Method: Gift
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