Free exhibit runs through November 2023

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will unveil a new photography exhibition highlighting CMA Fest’s half-century history on Tuesday, June 6th. The exhibit, titled In the Hands of the Fans: Fifty Years of CMA Fest, will feature photographs conveying the celebratory spirit of the festival and capturing memorable moments over the years. The exhibit is free and will be open to the public through November 2023 in the museum’s first-floor Community Corridor.

Celebrating its 50th year in 2023, the annual CMA Fest — four days of live music, autograph signings, photo opportunities, fan club parties and family activities held in June in Nashville — has been uniting country music fans and artists since 1972, when it was called Fan Fair.

Launched by the Country Music Association in partnership with radio station WSM, Fan Fair was intended to relieve over-crowding from the annual DJ Convention, a gathering of country music industry professionals and entertainers that attracted zealous fans to Nashville in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favorite stars. The first Fan Fair, held at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium in April 1972, was attended by 5,000 fans and more than 120 artists, including luminaries such as Roy Acuff, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe, Dolly Parton, Marty Robbins, Ernest Tubb and Tammy Wynette.

As country music’s popularity exploded, Fan Fair attendance soared, averaging 25,000 by the 1990s. In 2004, CMA assumed full sponsorship and changed the name of the event to CMA Music Festival. Last year, what is now known as CMA Fest, drew more than 80,000 daily attendees from all 50 states and 39 foreign countries. It featured performances by 260 acts, ranging from emerging artists to the biggest names in country music.

Photographs on display will include: Jimmie Allen interacting with fans at Chevy Riverfront Stage, CMA Fest, June 6, 2019; Garth Brooks signing autographs and interacting with fans for 23 hours without a break at Fan Fair, June 11, 1996; Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum staff member Peter Cooper interviewing Country Music Hall of Fame member Ray Stevens at Xfinity Fan Fair X at Music City Center during CMA Fest, June 6, 2019; Singer-songwriter Carolyn Dawn Johnson performing at her first fan club party, held at Douglas Corner Café during Fan Fair, June 13, 2002; Fans thronging to meet Loretta Lynn at her fan club booth in the exhibit hall at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Fan Fair, 1983; Barbara Mandrell, catcher and leader of women’s softball team the Do-Rites, making a dramatic catch during a game with Men’s Division team the Nashville Pickers at the Fan Fair Softball Tournament at Two Rivers Park, June 5, 1978; Paul and Linda McCartney — in Nashville to rehearse and record with their band, Wings — chatting with Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner backstage during the Third Annual Grand Masters Fiddling Championship, held at Opryland, June 16, 1974; Charley Pride signing autographs in the exhibit area at Municipal Auditorium during Fan Fair, 1977. That year, Pride hosted Fan Fair’s first annual International Country Music Show, which included acts from Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, England, Germany, Holland and Japan.

Other items on display in the Community Corridor exhibit will include posters, promotional items and a Guess stone-washed denim jacket, decorated with rhinestones and plastic stars, signed by 102 country music performers and personalities during super-fan Martha Allums’ visits to Fan Fair from 1991 to 2000.

If you are looking for amazing tips of posing models and how to use natural light, this video has it all. In this video, Michael Sasser travels to Bali, Indonesia and shares behind-the-scenes footage along with lots of tips and tricks that will help you in boudoir and portrait photography.

Watching Michael Sasser at work is always a pleasure. His behind-the-scenes videos are very informative, and in this video, we see Michael in Bali, photographing Kirsten in a variety of scenes at a villa.

For anyone looking to learn new poses, understanding light and location, this video has it all. Michael is very good at understanding the scenes around him and looking for any complications. In one scene, Michael has noticed cables in the background and ensures he moves them out of the way. Some of these tips may seem very simple, but can often be overlooked when on location. It is very important to look at your surroundings and interpret what may be distracting in the final image. This can also save you some time in the editing suite. 

On top of interpreting your surroundings, Michael uses those skills to look for the best light and plays with reflections to give his images an extra dimension. For any portrait work, I always work off three simple rules: LLP (light, location and pose). 

Every month, hundreds of galleries add newly available works by thousands of artists to the Artnet Gallery Network—and every week, we shine a spotlight on one artist or exhibition you should know. Check out what we have in store, and inquire for more with one simple click.

About the Artist: American artist Richard Sandler (b. 1946) has a practice centered on street photography and documentary filmmaking. He is perhaps most recognized for his street photography taken around New York City—particularly from the 1980s. Many images, such as of Grand Central Terminal and of the city’s Metro, have become synonymous with 1980s city nostalgia, as they capture an intimate vision of a bygone era. Originally from Forest Hills, Queens, he initially began photographing urban scenes while working in Boston in 1977. Following his return to New York a few years later, he continued to expand his street photography practice, capturing some of the most illustrative and evocative images of the city from the decade. After 2001, Sandler ultimately pivoted to focus on documentary filmmaking and directed and produced several films including The Gods of Times Square (1999), Brave New York (2004), and Radioactive City (2011).

What You Need to Know: This month, Avant Gallery will present the exhibition “Richard Sandler: The Eyes of the City” at the gallery’s Hudson Yards location in New York. Opening on May 18, 2023, the show includes more than 40 traditional gelatin silver prints of photographs taken around the city by Sandler—many of which are not only iconic of the artist’s oeuvre but of the city as well. The title of the show is drawn from the 2016 publication of the same name, which features his work from 1977 through 2001. The exhibition is in many ways a homecoming for the works, as many of Sandler’s photographs are part of permanent New York collections, including the New York Public Library, New York Historical Society, Museum of the City of New York, and the Brooklyn Museum.

Why We Like It: As a global center of culture, finance, and industry, the city of New York is codified within the collective imagination. Each decade evokes a signature atmosphere and aesthetic, and images such as those taken by Sandler allow viewers to take a step back into a previous era of life in the city—finding beauty in otherwise overlooked vignettes of everyday life. As Sandler once said, “You could say, ‘Look how fucked up New York was in the ’80s, look at all this graffiti,’ but also it was very beautiful. The layering of randomness, of one person’s tagging over another, and it would go on for months and years, and it started to look like Jackson Pollock.” It was an era when artists such as Keith Haring commonly worked in the subways and the street art scene was burgeoning/ Sandler’s photographs capture the indefinable air of the time. Employing the inimitable gelatin silver print process, the images have a distinct clarity and sense of depth, lending a distinct artistic facet to the photographer’s documentary style.

See featured works below.

Richard Sandler, Subway Noir, NYC (1986). Courtesy of Avant Gallery.

Richard Sandler, Hasid and Hipster, NYC (2001). Courtesy of Avant Gallery.

Richard Sandler, Subway Swoon, NYC (ca. 1986). Courtesy of Avant Gallery.

Richard Sandler, Subway Kiss, NYC (1987). Courtesy of Avant Gallery.

Richard Sandler, CC Train, NYC (1985). Courtesy of Avant Gallery.

“Richard Sandler: The Eyes of the City” is on view May 18–July 16, 2023, at Avant Gallery, New York City.

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