‘Retroblakesberg’ Showcases Decades Of Jay Blakesberg Music Photography At Grammy Museum

Ricki Blakesberg, daughter of esteemed music photographer, filmmaker and public speaker Jay Blakesberg, created the Retroblakesberg Instagram account in early April 2020.

Beginning as a means to curate her father’s film photography archive during the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital account has expanded to museum exhibitions throughout the U.S. in recent years. Retroblakesberg: The Music Never Stopped is now on display at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles through June 15, 2025.

Washington D.C., 1979

Seventeen-year-old Jay Blakesberg was weeks away from graduating high school when he got into a car accident en route to one of the many Grateful Dead concerts he would see in his lifetime.

His decision to hitchhike, hearing through the radio of a “No Nukes Rally” at the D.C. Capitol the following day, set the trajectory of his artistic career.

Jane Fonda was speaking on stage, surrounded by photographers from The New York Times, Washington Post and Newsweek. Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash floated nearby preparing to perform, along with Bob Weir and Brent Mydland of the Grateful Dead.

“I thought, ‘man, I want to be on stage up close to Jane Fonda photographing her, photographing them,’” Blakesberg recalled, nearly 50 years later. He then spotted a press pass on the muddied ground, made his way on stage, and began doing just that.

After submitting two photos from the 1979 rally to a local New Jersey publication, The Aquarian Weekly, Blakesberg saw his work published for the first time, earning a total of $15. Now a prolific music photographer, filmmaker and public speaker based in San Francisco, Jay and his daughter Ricki Blakesberg work to showcase decades of his photographic archive in museums throughout the U.S.

San Francisco, 2020

About a month into the COVID-19 pandemic, Ricki Blakesberg woke up in her childhood bedroom restless to accomplish something, anything. Having lost work as a freelance social media manager for musicians and bands, she craved a project that could contribute to her own professional portfolio while simultaneously serving as a distraction to the global health crisis that landed her back in her parents’ home.

Determined to assuage idle hands and a bleak chapter of unemployment, the younger Blakesberg walked into her father’s office, asked to make an Instagram page to exclusively curate his photographs on film, expected a “no” and received a “yes.”

“He wasn’t posting so many of these photographs on his personal Instagram account,” she said. “People just weren’t seeing them, even those that knew my dad’s Grateful Dead work well.”

Ricki created a new Instagram handle and posted her first photo: a young, long-haired Jay Blakesberg with a distinctly fitting tie-dye tapestry in the backdrop. And without further ado, Retroblakesberg was born.

A photographer herself, Ricki Blakesberg would engage in curatorial work for each of her freelance gigs prior to the pandemic. Not only does she possess an artistic eye and ability to help musicians promote their work digitally, but music is also an intrinsic component of her identity. Jay Blakesberg started taking his two kids to concerts when they were young, perhaps earlier than most parents would think to do for their children.

“I have memories of being on stage with performers like The Flaming Lips and Smash Mouth,” Ricki Blakesberg said. “Looking at my dad’s photos is nostalgic for him… for me. And I felt like our generation also loves nostalgia. I think now more than ever, so many people are picking up film cameras.”

She began posting her father’s photos to catch his existing fans’ attention: Courtney Love laying down strumming her guitar at Lollapalooza in 1995, Deadheads on Bourbon Street in 1980 waiting to see a show, the Merry Pranksters shot in fish-eye on a psychedelic bus for the 1997 Grandfurther tour.

Most of the Instagram posts include a brief description and hashtags like #stevienicks, #filmphotography. But some have intimate narratives more elaborate than the subject and setting.

“I’d just give Jay a call whenever I came across a photo that really moved me, that had such strong energy,” Ricki Blakesberg said, referring to her curatorial process. “I just knew that whatever I wanted to know more about, Jay’s existing and new fans would want to, too.”

The Retroblakesberg account is sprinkled with brief narratives Ricki extracted from her father’s past. Followers have the unique opportunity to read about the Red Hot Chili Peppers opening for the band X in 1987, accompanied by a photo Jay Blakesberg serendipitously took by wandering into their dressing room.

Someone who stumbles upon Retroblakesberg may see an Instagram post with a film photo of band at a New Jersey strip club in June 1979, taken three days prior to George’s death. The caption reads: “It was a little over an hour south from where I lived, and spent a few late school nights sleeping by the side of the road after the shows let out at about 2 a.m. so I could make it home without falling asleep at the wheel!”

As Retroblakesberg began to build traction on Instagram, Ricki Blakesberg started posting photos that featured artists she and her friends listened to: John Mayer in 2001 following the release of his first album, Room for Squares, wearing patchwork jeans that Jay Blakesberg says the musician still regrets being photographed in, Ice Cube and Ice-T at Shoreline Amphitheatre in 1992.

Nearly five years after Jay and Ricki Blakesberg began their namesake social media page, Retroblakesberg has expanded from the digital space and into several museum exhibitions: the San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Morris Museum in New Jersey where Jay Blakesberg is from, and presently at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles 2024

Jay Blakesberg stood at his exhibit’s entrance at the Grammy Museum, wearing a paisley collared shirt, cuffed jeans and boots, his same long, wavy hair now drenched in salt and pepper grays.

He pointed out Jerry Garcia in multiple exposure, E-40 and Snoop Dogg overexposed, and – my personal favorite – Ani DiFranco with a guitar in her lap and hands over her ears, everything in blur except her face. Creativity in focus, I think to myself.

Ricki Blakesberg’s curatorial prowess is undeniable when viewing the aforementioned works, including a black and white photo of Iggy Pop smoking a cigarette placed atop Snoop Dogg in color, smoking weed.

“There’s something for everyone, every genre,” she said, standing in a pin-stripe suit, platform boots and thick jewelry.

In one colorful photograph George Clinton sits on and is surrounded by chunky computers, wearing a patterned get-up and platform boots. A shot of Dave Matthews in black and white is hung adjacent to Clinton, both subjects staring directly at the viewer yet with seemingly opposing intentions. A contemporary audience may sense an allusion to viral trends – “brat” versus “demure.”

“Throughout my career I’ve experimented with different styles, creating a look that was unique to me as a photographer,” Jay Blakesberg said, looking around at a smidgen of his life’s work. “Because you’re trying to be cool and groovy and convince art directors and photo editors that you’re cool and groovy and original.”

Of course, an entire section is dedicated to the Grateful Dead and their fans, the notorious “Deadheads,” frolicking in open fields and dusty golden light. “I signed the cosmic contract. And once you do that, you can never break it.” Blakesberg’s subjects wear anklets and headbands, totally engaged in self-play, conjuring a freer, more carefree time.

“We love taking massive quantities of LSD while going to see them,” he said, smiling to himself while observing the Deadheads. “We love the community, the music […] I’m proud of that body of work. And it feels great to have Ricki now spearheading it all.”