Shelly Rusten

Shelly Rusten (born April 13, 1938 in Boston ) is an American photographer who was also active as a jazz drummer .

Live and act

Rusten played drums in local bands since the mid-1950s ; During his military service (1961–63) he discovered photography. From 1963 he lived in New York, where he became a member of the trio of Burton Greene in 1966 and also accompanied Patty Waters .

From 1969, Rusten, who learned from Lisette Model , made a name for himself as a documentary photographer; in particular his photos of the people at the Woodstock Festival were printed internationally in the print media and in 1970 also used in advertisements for the Woodstock film. They were later used on the covers of various recordings of this festival, such as Janis Joplin , Santana , Sly & the Family Stone or Jefferson Airplane . Rusten also contributed the cover photos for albums by David Liebman and Johnny Winter . After living in rural Upper Delaware Valley since 1983 , he created a series of photographs of rural life that has been part of the Museum of Modern Art's collection since 1993 . Since 2005 he has focused on photos of people on the streets of New York.

Rusten also taught photography at the New School and then until 1985 at the School of Visual Arts .

Discographic notes

Burton Green On Tour ( ESP 1966, with Steve Tintweiss )
Patty Waters College Tour (ESP 1966; only one piece)
Burton Green Presenting Burton Greene ( Columbia 1968, with Byard Lancaster , Steve Tintweiss)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Rusten, Shelly
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American photographer (Woodstock Festival) and jazz drummer
DATE OF BIRTH	April 13, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH	Boston