Lewis, Andre (Photographer); Middleton, Herbola

Original Photograph: Herbola Middleton and His Band at First San Francisco Poetry Festival (1976)

San Francisco, CA: Andre Lewis, 1976. Original Developed Photographic Print. Single Sheet. Signed by photographer Andre Lewis. “The original core group of those who came up with the idea and began to act on it were [Lawrence] Ferlinghetti (1919-2021), [Neeli] Cherkovski (1945-2024), Peter LeBlanc (b. 1930) and myself. Over time others became part of the organizing dynamic in one way or another…Neeli was the bullhorn, the provocateur, for the event—talking up the idea and later doing PR work by just enthusiastically talking with people one to one about it. LeBlanc volunteered to create a large poster for the event, which was pasted all over the Bay area. This wonderful large poster is now a collector’s item. Lawrence was sort of the figurehead for the festival by being its “editor” during the process of creating a list of headliners. I was the nuts-&-bolts man. The workhorse doing the daily business of setting things in motion, making schedules, contacting poets, bringing necessary assistants onboard, etc. I was also the “businessman” of the group…along with John Ming Lee…Lawrence felt that San Francisco needed a major festival to put it on the international map and that the timing was right, as we had more or less proven from the overflow attendance to all our previous events…Was it a success? Most definitely…The Veterans’ Auditorium held upward of 3,000 people. On the first night we filled the auditorium to capacity. On the next night, we not only filled it to capacity but had people standing in the isles and in the foyer and up on the stage, breaking the fire code with staff at the venue calling the backstage phone, threatening to call the marshals and close down the event. Luckily, this never happened…We made a lot of money and were able to pay the poets a nice stipend, raise money for Beatitude Press, and also leave a little in the bank for future ideas and events” (from The Thomas Rain Crowe Archive, p. 72). An original photographic print (measuring appx. 8 x 10” including margins) featuring the musician, Herbola Middleton and his band at the First Annual San Francisco Poetry Festival. Of Middleton, comparably little is known. However, we can say that the inclusion of Middleton’s musical outfit spoke to the well-documented cosmopolitanism of the Second San Francisco Renaissance & its authors. Whether from North Beach, Berkeley, or key localities further afield (like Marin County, for example, or the San Juan Ridge), SSFR authors (almost to a woman & man) championed an interest in global musics, and were hip to a vision of Modernism as a global phenomenon. Middleton’s inclusion at the SFPF, then, can thus be seen as another flower of this interest. Original photographic print on single sheet: the first & only printing of an incredible documentary photograph. Of the three notations that are present at verso of photograph, only one is distinguishable and familiar: that penned by conference organizer, Thomas Rain Crowe (b. 1949) along topmost fine-edge of same. Crowe’s handwritten notation, in thin, blue pen ink, reads: “Herbola Middleton / S.F. Poetry Fest 1976. At lower left margin of verso, photographer Andre Lewis has hand-written his signature & dated in bold blue ink: "Andre / 76." indicating (or suggesting) that Second San Francisco Renaissance photographer, Andre Lewis is the individual responsible for this photo. Lewis was one among several photographer-friends that Crowe kept in his Mim-Rev Rolodex: that he invited or employed to capture the Renaissance action. In relatively fine-to-very-fine condition with only slight rubbing & mute-to-faint scratching present (and lowly) at glossy recto; a few tiny bumps to edges & corners; microscopically minute age-toning; & with identifying notations, & related writings, as noted above. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #7901]

Price: $80.00