Exhibition of Bruce Springsteen photos comes to city

Bruce Springsteen and his fans. Picture: Jo Lopez

A unique exhibition will stop off in Edinburgh for one night only this autumn, giving Springsteen fans the chance to own a piece of history, as well as meet the man who gets up close and personal with the singer on stage.

Jo Lopez has been photographing Springsteen and his band for the last 16 years, and has been labelled the Man Behind the Man – the name he has given to his exhibition.

The unique collection of photographs will be staged by the Off Beat Lounge gallery on October 8 as part of a UK tour – the first exhibition of the photographer’s Springsteen collection ever to tour the UK.

Twelve limited edition prints of The Boss in concert performing around the world will be on sale. And with only 100 copies per image, they are a collector’s dream – especially when signed by Lopez himself.

And a donation will be made to Teenage Cancer Trust from the sale of each print.

Exhibition curator, founder and director of Off Beat Lounge Mark Overton said the concept to display the tour photos came after his own personal collection got out of hand.

He said: “Six or seven years ago I started collecting album art and rock music photography and that collection grew. What was a hobby morphed into a business – it was a hobby out of control.

“People started asking me to acquire things for them and I realised, as a Springsteen fan, one of the hardest things to get hold of was really good Springsteen photography. I tracked down Jo and after two years of negotiating and growing friendship, Jo finally agreed to let me be his publisher in Europe and the UK.”

The exhibition will be held at the Harley Davidson showroom on West Mains Road – a fitting tribute to Springsteen.

Mr Overton added: “When it came to looking for a major venue, we talked to Harley Davidson. Apart from linking Springsteen up with the Jack Daniel’s brand, Harley Davidson is as compatible as it gets.”

Fans are expected to travel to the Capital from across Europe to see the collection of photographs and to buy their own copies signed by Lopez, who has also photographed rock legends including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blondie and Black Sabbath.

Mr Lopez said: “I’m genuinely excited about heading to Edinburgh. I came to the UK earlier in the year for an exhibition in Leeds and it was such a great night. I know there’s a huge Springsteen following in Scotland, so I really wanted to make sure I could work the diary to be there.”