EXHIBIT RUNS through January 22, 2011

Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy will present Heroes: Works by Steve Schapiro, renowned journalism and portrait photographer, in an exhibition of 60 of his photographs. The exhibit is a collection of Schapiro’s "personally selected iconic images from his encounters with artists, writers, actors, athletes, and politicians throughout the second half of the 20th Century."  (Continued below)

Schapiro’s work ranges from dramatic images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, to portraits of Robert F. Kennedy, Jackie Onassis, Muhammad Ali, Truman Capote and Andy Warhol. His groundbreaking images of influential personalities, newsmakers, and cultural and political leaders display a modest yet remarkable presentation of his extraordinary life in photography.

Born and raised in New York City, Schapiro’s career as a notable photographer began in 1960, when he documented Arkansas migrant workers who were fighting for electricity in their camps. His photographs were published as a cover story for The New York Times Magazine, and ultimately forced the workers’ management to provide the utility, according to Schapiro’s Web site. 

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he traveled throughout the U.S. as a documentary photographer, recording the changing culture and politics. During the 1970s and 1980s, besides continuing his photographic works, he created iconic movie stills for such movies as Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, and John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy. Later, Schapiro worked for such musical greats as Barbra Streisand and David Bowie, creating photography for album covers.  

"As a young photographer on assignment for Life, my only ambition was that the pictures I took each day would be published in the following week’s magazine; I never thought beyond that. I could not imagine that 40 years later, so many of my subjects would remain strong, iconic figures in the world. However, as I photographed each of these ten individuals, I was aware of the life-changing effect they were having on me," Schapiro says.

His photos have been displayed on the covers of some of the world’s most well-known and well-read magazines, including:TIME, Newsweek, LIFE, Look, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, People, Vanity Fair, and The New York Times Magazine. 

Having to help shape an iconic American culture, Schapiro’s works are represented in many private and public collections, including: the Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C.; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Hamiltons Gallery, London, England; Galerie Thierry Marlat, Paris, France; Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; and Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA. 

Gallery hours are Mondays 1–5 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; closed on Sundays. The Lamont Gallery is in the Frederick R. Mayer Art Center on Tan Lane at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH. Contact the Lamont Gallery a 603-777- 3461.