Seattle Music – Past and Present. Opening Thursday, October 10, 2019. 6-9 pm.
Photography by Diana Adams and Kelly O.
Diana Adams and Kelly O have independently produced iconic images of the Seattle Music Scene, among other editorial subjects, for over two decades. This show features some of the local musicians and compilations spanning 1996 to the present.
Diana Adams started taking pictures of friends bands in college and as technology shifted toward digital imagery she decided to pursue other avenues with a brief stint in the tech in the late 1990s. Fortuitously she went in a curatorial direction and is now the owner of Vermillion Art Gallery and Bar on Capitol Hill which has been around since 2007. Unfortunately, the bulk of her early photography has been lost after many years of transition, so this show is a scarce sample of what’s been salvaged. “I’m trying to be philosophical about it,” says Adams. “When we planned this show I was really excited to be an artist again after decades of stewarding others. The realization that it’s all been lost is bittersweet. I know how lucky I am to have been able to experience what I did and if it weren’t for my early photo career, I wouldn’t have made the rich connections and formed the networks that I have today. I consider this an indication that I chose the right path. Opening and running Vermillion has been a dream that very few people will ever have the chance to fulfill and a photo career would have sidetracked me.” Diana Adams did work for SPIN, The Stranger, The Rocket, Resonance Magazine, K Records, Kill Rock Stars, Up Records, Tribal Productions and more.
Kelly O has steadily continued to shoot tirelessly and champions the LGBTQIA+ communities on a regular basis. Last month Kelly was invited by One Reel’s ace art curator Marty Griswold to show work at the 2019 Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. These are the gigantic prints from that Bumbershoot “Big Ass Photo” show—a retrospective of music portraits from the last decade. Smaller archival versions of the giant prints will be available for purchase at the opening. and her images have appeared online in The New York Times, Huffington Post, ABC News, XLR8R, and VICE. In print, she’s been published in SPIN, Interview, UNCUT, Mojo, BUST, Seattle’s City Arts Magazine and The Stranger (where she spent 18 years documenting local news, arts, and music—and 16 years running around late at night, looking for fun-time party people for her long-running photo column, Drunk of the Week.) Tearsheets, additional photo sets, and/or writing samples available by request. Email: kelly@kelly–o.com
Second Thursday Artwalk on Thursday, October 10 from 6-9 pm.
Category: Art
