December Artist Spotlight-Barry Schneier-Photographer, Author
Barry Schneier is a local photographer, author and Medway Cable Access coordinator. He has said, “My job is, through video, to try to tell the stories of the residents, businesses and town employees who make this town tick.” He has succeeded through his career at "telling the story", through his gorgeous photography and his probing videography. His book, Bruce Springsteen: Rock and Roll Future, has been favorably reviewed in many outlets, including Rolling Stone, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bruce-springsteen-harvard-square-concert-rock-roll-future-859344/?fbclid=IwAR1WRLk3mAwbCyMrcM3CKX1lyVoBIc8Vq1Q0ysn-ie7X9q_vjWuij7tTtpA
Barry is a resident of Holliston. "Ive been working part time for Medway Cable Access as their Cable Access Coordinator. My job is through video try to tell the stories of the residents, businesses and town employees who make this town tick. I’ve met so many wonderful people who live and work here and learned so much about this town, I do feel like a resident."
Barry's easygoing, personality assists him in connecting with and drawing out the people he portrays.
Tell us about your art are you more photographer or writer?
I’m more photographer than writer. The writing came about as people were asking about the stories behind my photos. So I started to write them. I’ve always enjoyed writing and it forces me to try new ways to tell stories that hopefully leave people with impressions 
What inspires me is the work other artists and creators do. Especially those in the performing arts. The amount of work it takes to create and produce something that really “works” is sometimes beyond measure. But when you create something, that truly moves people, there’s nothing else like it. But its takes a lot of hard work and I am inspired by the amount of work people put into their art.
I was always interested in the visual arts. I had a camera when I was around 11 years old and began to play with it then. When I was in college I was majoring in filmmaking. I took photography classes do better train my eye. I had no idea I would be so inspired by what I learned about photography and no idea that that was to eventually be my medium. I always loved music and actually played in a band for a number of years and then became a road manager for another. I knew many musicians and was deeply immersed in the local music scene. I got to know a team of promoters who were also Bonnie Raitt’s management team. I began photographing the acts they were putting on in concert and that’s when I really got involved. I would have unlimited access to them on stage and off stage and was able to capture early performances of many artists that went on to be huge acts. My work with musicians continued when I moved to California and for a while I was shooting new and upcoming acts in Los Angeles.
How did you first become interested in photography? How did you get started photographing musicians?
I was always interested in the visual arts. I had a camera when I was around 11 years old and began to play with it then. When I was in college I was majoring in filmmaking. I took photography classes do better train my eye. I had no idea I would be so inspired by what I learned about photography and no idea that that was to eventually be my medium. I always loved music and actually played in a band for a number of years and then became a road manager for another. I knew many musicians and was deeply immersed in the local music scene. I got to know a team of promoters who were also Bonnie Raitt’s management team. I began photographing the acts they were putting on in concert and that’s when I really got involved. I would have unlimited access to them on stage and off stage and was able to capture early performances of many artists that went on to be huge acts. My work with musicians continued when I moved to California and for a while I was shooting new and upcoming acts in Los Angeles.
How can people experience your work? Do you have a website/gallery? www.barryschneierphotography.com
Tell us about your book: Bruce Springsteen: Rock and Roll Future? What was the process of publishing? Is this your first book? Where can people access or purchase your book?
My work with Bruce Springsteen in the 1970s began to get attention. A friend of mine had introduced me to his music and when I saw him play live ..in a small bar in Cambridge, I was so blown away by him I insisted my promoter friends book him for a concert. They booked him to open up for Bonnie Raitt at the Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge. I photographed that show, which turned out to be a milestone in his career. Jon Landau, a local critic, reviewed the show for The Real Paper and in his review wrote the line “ I saw rock and roll future and his name is Bruce Springsteen” Bruce’s label, Columbia Records , was considering dropping him due to poor album sales, despite rave reviews for his music. The marketing people got a hold of that line from the review and began a heavy marketing campaign..which turned things around for him
I wasn’t totally aware of the significance of my work from then until I started to exhibit it some 30 years later. People wanted to know the stories behind the photos and that night. Backstreets Publishing contacted me about doing a book. I had already begun writing some of the stories so I continued doing that. We decided to do a Kickstarter to fund the publishing and it was a huge success. It was the #2 Photo book in the US and #5 internationally on Kickstarter that year. The book is available at Backstreets.com , Amazon, The Harvard Coop and Aesops Fable Book store in Holliston.
“Backstreets Publishing offers a deep perspective and unseen images from the night Bruce Springsteen was hailed “rock and roll future.” And music was changed forever. (Chapel Hill, NC) On May 9, 1974, Bruce Springsteen performed a show that is considered to
be a watershed moment in his career. After releasing two albums to minimal sales success, he was in danger of being dropped by his record label. Photographer Barry Schneier, having seen Bruce Springsteen perform locally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, suggested to concert
promoters Windowpane Productions that they consider booking him for a show. In the audience that night was Jon Landau, music critic for Rolling Stone magazine and Cambridge-based The Real Paper. One line in Landau’s subsequent Real Paper column — perhaps the most famous concert review of all time : “I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” –excerpt taken from press release
What would you like to do with your art in the future is there another book project?
I have just finished another book entitled “California is a Dream State” it’s a collection of my work when I lived in California in the 1970s. I am about to start another project on the folk music scene in New England and the people who have made it what it is
What advice would you give aspiring artists and writers? Do you have any tips to help them in their ventures to publication, writing or photography?
Find what it is you are passionate about and just start to write about it or photograph it. If its photography, look at the work of photographers and see what it is that you like about it, what is it that draws you to it. Then emulate it. Then learn how to look through a view finder. Spend time analyzing what you see through the lens and see if its the same thing you see in your mind. If its not, keep looking.
Don’t depend on the software to make your photo. Make it with your camera and your eye. -Barry Schneier
Adapted by Celeste Falcone, from Medway Cultural Council Artist Spotlight Website- interview and article by Kim Blenkhorn, https://medwayartists.wpcomstaging.com/2021/12/01/artist-spotlight-questions-barry-schneier/.