The Rolling Stones

On Saturday, March 23, the Herman Brood Museum opened a temporary photo exhibition of The Rolling Stones in addition to the permanent Brood collection. The collection consists of never-before-seen photos by photographer Harm Botman (1952 – 2012) and photos by Bullet-Ray. This exhibition will last until the end of June. 

The Herman Brood Museum will emphasize Rock 'n Roll several times a year by organizing high-profile exhibitions of photo collections that have not previously been on display in the Netherlands, in addition to the permanent Brood collection. Collections from Queen, The Who, Andy Summers and many others are on the programme. 

The first exhibition is completely dedicated to The Rolling Stones and consists of photos by Harm Botman and Bullet-Ray. 

Harm Botman (1952-2012) was nine years old when he started taking photographs. He grew up in the Woestduin forest and the Waterleidingduinen. Here an exceptional fascination for details and the beauty of nature developed.

He would continue to photograph throughout his life and built up an oeuvre consisting of personal and documentary photography. Botman also experimented with many printing techniques, including gum printing and silver gelatin printing. With his expertise in photo printing, he was often called in as a master printer by museums. Botman leaves behind an impressive archive that has now largely been included in the collection of the Leiden University Print Room.

The pictures

Botmans' very last project was developing his Rolling Stones photos together with his son Kuan. These photos lay unpublished in his archive for 40 years.

In the early 1970s, Botman captured his own musical heroes The Rolling Stones as individual members and as a complete band during their concerts in the Netherlands. In those heydays, The Rolling Stones consisted of band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Mick Taylor and Charlie Watts. The young band members radiate both enthusiasm and concentration with their facial expressions and attitudes. This is the Stones in their element. These young rock stars still had a very long and successful musical life ahead of them. 

Of prints
The bright spotlights used at early concerts provide the rough color and high-contrast black and white prints. The image is characteristic of the era. Botmans' preference has always been to keep images as natural as possible in terms of retouching and editing. Towards the end of Botmans' life, he and his son Kuan developed these unique prints with great care. The series is limited and signed.

The Rolling Stones Amsterdam RAI 1970, Rotterdam Ahoy 1973.

Raymond van Olphen, also known as Bullet Ray. He is best known as a pop photographer and was the creator of the photos for the MH-17 relatives' book Voortleven. Provided photography for various music albums by, among others, Bertolf, Anneke van Giersbergen and Simply Red.

He also photographed many celebrities such as the Rolling Stones, Kiss, Pearl Jam, Madonna, etc. as house photographer for the NPO (NPO Radio2, 3FM) and music magazines such as the Musicmaker. 

He recorded the Stones during Pinkpop in 2014 and the “No Filter Tour” in 2017. These photos can be admired in the Museum from March to June.