LAS VEGAS — One of the highlights of the 2015 LDI Show was an exhibition of Neal Preston’s photos. Titled In the Eye of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hurricane, the exhibition was on display Oct. 23-25, right on the show floor. Pictured here is a moment from the video reel where Queen’s Brian May credits Preston for his work – in this case, a shot of the band from backstage.
The Las Vegas exhibition followed similar exhibitions of Preston’s photos this year in Frankfurt, Germany (April 15-18, during Musikmesse/Prolight + Sound), in Paderborn, Germany (May 22-25, during Drums ‘n’ Percussion) and in Switzerland (July 3-18, during the Montreaux Jazz Festival).
Sponsors Ben Saltzman, president and CEO of A.C.T Lighting, and Ralph-Jörg Wezorke, owner of European distributor Lightpower, were on hand to introduce Preston during the exhibition’s Oct. 23 opening, as was Queen’s Brian May, via video.
May, who lauded Preston as “one of my oldest and greatest friends” and noted his knack for always seeming to be “in the right place at the right time” — not just to capture Freddy Mercury at the peak of his powers, but the less-sensational, contemplative shots of Eric Clapton and un-posed shots with both Freddy Mercury and Michael Jackson in the frame.
Preston, who spoke of his discomfort at being the center of attention, said he much prefers his usual role as “fly on the wall.” He also spoke of the retrospective as being an eye-opener for him. “I can’t believe one person shot all these things,” he laughed.
Each photo told a story, and for even more detail, Preston told the backstory of each image via available headsets, such as his ability to seize the chance opportunity of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant bemusedly holding one of the doves normally released as part of the band’s act back in 1973, or for deciding just to go with it rather than keep trying to remove another bird that was perched atop Frank Zappa’s head during a photo shoot.
Preston expects to reveal even more in a forthcoming book — working title Exhilarated and Exhausted — which is due out in late 2017. In it, he plans to cover his decades chronicling big bands and artists, this time with his own written narrative accompanying all the images.
