Ebet Roberts
The Music Photo Gallery · Represented Photographer

Ebet Roberts

Ebet Roberts
Portrait of the photographer
Biography
“I felt like that whole scene had to be documented.”

Ebet Roberts moved from her native Memphis to New York City to paint but switched to photography in 1977 when she began began documenting the evolving CBGB scene. Since then she has consistently documented musicians. Capturing the essence of the artists she photographs, while accumulating a vast archive and respect from her peers.

Her work has been syndicated and exhibited worldwide and is included in many television specials, music anthologies, posters, advertisements, galleries, and private collections, as well as permanent collections for such rock, jazz, and classical musicians as: Bob Marley, Neil Young, Ravi Shankar, Phillip Glass, Bob Dylan, R.E.M., The Ramones, The Cure, The Pretenders, Robert Plant, Bruce Springsteen, Miles Davis, Talking Heads, The Clash and Bon Jovi.

Her photographs are reproduced in innumerable publications including Rolling Stone, MOJO, Spin, GQ, Playboy, The New York Times, Newsweek, Time, People, USA Today, and The Village Voice. They are also featured prominently in "Blank Generation Revisited", "This Ain't No Disco: The Story of CBGB" and "Frozen Fire: The Story of the Cars", "CBGB'S: 30 Years of Photographs", "Punk 365", "Farm Aid: A Song for America" and "The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock", and have been included in "Rock Stars" by Timothy White, "Written in My Soul" by Bill Flanagan, "The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock'N Roll" by Anthony deCurtis and James Henke, "Empty Places" by Laurie Anderson, "Rock and Roll at 50" by Life Books, and "Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History 1955-Present" by Gail Buckland. Her photographs have also been widely exhibited and are in the permanent collection of The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, Seattle's Experience Music Project, The Grammy Museum, and The Hard Rock Cafe.

In the artist's
own words
I basically wanted to make whomever I was photographing feel comfortable so that they would trust me.
Ebet Roberts
Produced & distributed by TMPG

TMPG Touring
Exhibitions

Museum-scale productions drawn from Ebet Roberts's archive — available for museums, institutions and festivals worldwide.

Selected career exhibitions

Career Exhibitions

A selected record of museum and gallery presentations from Ebet Roberts's career.

Type
Exhibition
Venue
Year
Exhibition
Tina Turner: A Journey to the Future
Museum of Image and Sound (MIS), São Paulo, Brazil
2023
Exhibition
Ebet Roberts Vintage Prints Portfolio
The Music Photo Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2022
Exhibition
Punk Is Coming
MoCA Westport, Connecticut, USA
2022
Exhibition
Institutions:
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Grammy Museum, MoPOP and Hard Rock Cafe Collection
Permanent Collections
Selected Press

In the press.

Hutchison

Ebet Roberts ’63: Capturing the Decisive Moment

It is a Thursday night, early March 1977. Ebet Roberts ’63 is at CBGB, a dingy club located at 315 Bowery in Manhattan’s gritty East Village. She’s here to photograph a band, and CBGB* is considered the venue to see the up-and-coming punk and new wave bands exploding onto the music scene.

Retrofuturista
Before the Legends Were Legends: Ebet Roberts on the New York Punk Years

Ebet Roberts, a painter turned photographer, captured intimate musical moments before they faded.

Memphis Magazine
The Mind’s Eye: Ebet Roberts

The Memphis-raised photographer has captured the heart and soul of rock-and-roll for more than four decades.