Arthur Rosato - Meet the Photographer

Arthur Rosato grew up in the 50’s in New Jersey and was a witness to the burgeoning music scene there and that is where he got “the bug”. He started shooting bands in the late 60’s but had a different approach.

Arthur’s point of view was that as if he was a member of the band on stage and shot accordingly. He would later on apply the same technique to his acclaimed video skills with Bruce Springsteen and many others. Arthur’s archive is as unique and diverse as his storied and unusual career!

Arthur has been around musicians as an audio engineer, drummer, guitar/drum tech, photographer, and video director. He worked with Bob Dylan (played drums with him too), George Harrison, Carlos Santana, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and many more. He directed videos for numerous festivals; Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Essence, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He directed video for more than 600 different artists. Bob Dylan once said to him "That he was so low key, that he was subterranean." That is his approach to documenting the world.

He started out as an artist/painter and discovered that a camera was a better tool for him. “Woodstock” became the catalyst for his passion of music and photography. “Altamont” is where he came to understand the intensity of the moment. Rolling Stone magazine in San Francisco, seemed to be the voice of music at the time. They were interested in his photos and he would get assignments to shoot at the Fillmore and over in Berkeley. He used to shoot onstage at the Fillmore all the time, a real privilege if you knew the restrictions on anyone being there. He asked promoter Bill Graham, years later, why he allowed him onstage? He answered, “You looked like you belonged there.”