by Geoffrey Bennett

Image


Sanitation workers' strike. Memphis, Tenn. March 28, 1968 / Ernest Withers, Panopticon Gallery, Boston, Mass.

On today's show, we paid tribute to photographer Ernest Withers, who captured over 60 years' worth of black history — from the blues music of Beale Street to the Civil Rights Movement. He died last week at age 85.

The New York Times remembers him this way:

"Mr. Withers documented Memphis' bustling Beale Street blues scene, making both studio portraits of up-and-coming musicians and going inside the clubs for shots of live shows and their audiences. He photographed B. B. King, Aretha Franklin, Ike and Tina Turner, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, and Al Green, among others. In 1956, he photographed a young Mr. Presley arm in arm with B. B. King at a Memphis club."

And from Photo District News:

"He will be remembered not only as an exceptional chronicler of history through his photography," Jeff McAdory, picture editor at the Memphis Commercial Appeal, told PDN, "but as a person who was a joy to be around. He had an amazing memory for the people and events he photographed through the years. His pictures told the story, and if you were fortunate enough to know him you could hear him tell the stories behind the story."

View more of Withers' photos.