ABOUT
Jay Blakesberg: A San Francisco-based photographer, filmmaker and public speaker.
Jay is best known for his music photography beginning in 1978.
He has worked with many legendary artists including the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Carlos Santana, Tom Waits, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Flaming Lips to name a few. Jay’s work has been published in 1000’s of magazines worldwide, in books, and many documentary films.
He has published 16 coffee table books of his work, with 14 of them under his self-publishing imprint, Rock Out Books.
Jay’s second solo museum exhibit, RetroBlakesberg: The Music Never Stopped opens August 31, 2023, at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.
In 2020 he and his daughter Ricki launched Retro Photo Archive representing the work of nearly a dozen photographers for licensing opportunities across all platforms, exhibitions, and fine art print sales.
ROCK OUT BOOKS: THE RETAIL ARM OF JAY BLAKESBERG PHOTOGRAPHY
Rock Out Books is the website to shop for fine art prints and coffee table books of Jay’s body of work as well as other independent photographers.
It also acts as an in-house design studio providing clients with highly creative design solutions including all phases of production for printing and publishing of coffee table art books.
RetroBlakesberg: Jay’s film photography curated by Ricki Blakesberg
RetroBlakesberg began as an Instagram page started by Jay’s daughter Ricki in April 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.
In contrast to today’s digital era of instant access to music and cultural icons – when everyone has a phone in their pocket – RetroBlakesberg showcases only photographs Jay shot using film. The response was so encouraging that a coffee table book and museum exhibition were created. Ricki lives in Brooklyn, NY and works as a freelance photo editor, curator, and agent.
Retro Photo Archive: Preserving the art of storytelling through archival photography.
Retro Photo Archive is a boutique image library featuring pop culture, iconic figures, street photography, sports, politics and rock and roll imagery established in 2022 by San Francisco photographer Jay Blakesberg and his daughter Ricki Blakesberg.
With Jay and Ricki fully immersed in photography, they offer guidance in discovering the perfect images for commercial projects from the exclusive Retro Photo Archive.