When Barry Levine was hired to be the official photographer at Woodstock he had no idea it would change his life forever. Nor did he realize the impact his photos would have all around the world for decades to come. Barry was a 26-year-old freelance photographer.
He arrived at the concert location five days early to watch the preparations, and the images he captured then and during the festival have become iconic and have frozen in time the ideals, the individuals and the events that made Woodstock one of the most unique events in modern history.
Now, 40 years later, Levine has published a new book, "The Woodstock Story Book," that tells the story of the concert through poetry and his unforgettable images.
Twitter
facebook
Google
Linkedin
Pinterest
digg
del.ici.ous
reddit
Scarlet O'Haira
- » view
- » report
Posted 11:28am October 14th, 2009I was 20 at the time of Woodstock. Unfortunately, I did not go. The music was a phenominal. It is mind blowing to consider the concentration of soon to be legends that performed at a single venue. The music is now so historical and timeless! I feel so fortunate to be part of a generation that saw this incredible happening!
Dog Lover Lady
- » view
- » report
Posted 2:49pm October 13th, 2009Unfortunatly I was only 8 at the time of Woodstock. However, I have always felt I should have been there, that I missed my calling somehow. I have read the vast articles, viewed as many photos as I could and listened to (and still do) the music of that era. My daughter to this day believes I am a throwback Hippie! I do not believe for a second I will win, but I will keep my eye on Amazon for a copy!
Dinah
- » view
- » report
Posted 10:12pm October 8th, 2009With that year nightly filled with broadcast journalists' coverage in VietNam against each same night's coverage of that next day's full-hearted protests, all of us in that same age bracket as those involved were so torn, so aware, that the polarization in the country now pales. Now, only those with fat wallets or unscathed credit cards can attend any one concert. Woodstock graced our peer multitudes with music speaking to power so brazenly that there was little wonder the emergence of the drug culture coincided, to help cope. We were young, we were sure, we were full of conviction. Hendrix's National Anthem, with his electric guitar interweaving the sounds of weaponry, was so profound that my heart was in my throat while tears dripped off my chin. And the whole point was that it was free, just like the nightly news.
An extended downpour made deep, sloppy mud; the under-estimated crowd when people kept coming caused frantic calls for more facilities and the opening of fences, but that natural, difficult circumstance made the thousands even more aware of the natural wrong of how life was in 1969. Under the downpour in the mud was exactly the circumstance in Nam. What our peers were enduring beyond these same conditions was so far worse that we were humbled, grateful we weren't there, and hoping for their survival. Instead we were hearing the brillance and talent of our current-day artists standing firm on their behalf, while they heard screams, death throes and the real thing Hendrix reminded us of.
I think people made love out in the open for the same reason they do after a funeral in private: to break against the horror, to cope, to reaffirm, to feel something besides numb. And I think those among us who survived Nam, who claim now that those there who fell apart afterward were weak to begin with, have not familiarized themselves with the subsequent research and validation of what war does to soldiers; that they had the ability to deny and defy those same years of their lives.
But for those hours of Woodstock's insistent symbolism, 1969 was a year of being horribly torn, six years before VietNam was over.
Ladybear
- » view
- » report
Posted 6:59pm October 8th, 2009I was 22 and my best friend Bonnie and I had left NJ to head to California in early summer of '69.
Once there we found out about the Woodstock Festival. So we hopped back in our VW minivan and hit the road back to NY!
We got there early enough in the week to get into the site, and parked the bus on some local guys property for the weekend.
set up a base camp near the HOG FARM and headed into our future.
in the words of our beloved ARLO GUTHRIE, "MAN, ALOTTA FREAKS!"
it was ~FaR oUt~!
The world has never been the same and neither have we!
We wanted things to change.
I remember sitting in the field waiting for the bands to start
and someone started making peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches
and we'd take a bite and pass it on. food was getting rare,
and the stands that were set up were such a hassle to get to cause you had to walk over so many people, it was hardly worth tryin. when you got up there the line was killer anyway, so we just all shared food!
I have many stories of that weekend.
Fell in love a thousand times with guys who would walk by and we'd lock eye contact and keep walking.
It was constant connecting. walking by and touching or looking deep at each others eyes and moving onto the next person to share with as they walked by.
There was a purity of the spirit there. a genuine sharing of soul. my life changed there,
I quit smoking cigarettes on an acid trip,
we paid $5 to a farmer with a tractor to tow our van out of the mud after Woodstock ended,
and we made it into the movie!
right after SHA NA NA and before Joe Cocker!
We're doing YOGA with Tom Law, I'm the one with the headband on!
My biggest story on Woodstock is that I was admiring a girl there
for days thinking she was so cool.
(In the movie, she has on the fringed halter and short skirt
that's dancing wildly with Fantuzzi, the guy with the big hair waving his arms around).
Anyway, I thought she was the coolest and at one point,
she entered into a camp I was at.
I offered her one of my Kool cigarettes.
She said 'I don't smoke cigarettes'.
I thought 'WOW! I want to be more cool like her'.
I was on acid at the time and it really made an impact!
So...that's when I quit smoking!!!
On an acid trip at Woodstock!
fastdart
- » view
- » report
Posted 5:58pm October 8th, 2009I have a friend that was there and she is going to win this book!!!
pss: She was in the movie =)
bobwrites1
- » view
- » report
Posted 5:09pm October 8th, 2009I drove up spur of the moment with a carload of college buddies, and the amazing experiences started miles before the site. The road was impassable, clogged with partying pilgrims. We left the car and joined them, sharing stories and inebriants all the way. Ahh the music, the people, the mud, the spirit - you know, it was WOODSTOCK. But the most unforgettable image: Jeff left early to get the car - a bitchin' green Chrysler(?) convertible - and came back to get us. In the car was a barrel of pretzels a departing vendor had given him, and we drove for miles handing and tossing them out to the very weary and hungry throng trudging out. Good vibrations and great memories galore. "3 days of peace, love and music" sums it up pretty well. Dang, wish I wrote that
goinglikesixty
- » view
- » report
Posted 3:58pm October 8th, 2009I was 21, living in midwest. Woodstock was a non-event then and still is.