Throughout Boston’s transformative growth period from the late 1970’s to today, I’ve photographed all over the city (both day and night), nearly every notable person and cultural activity that was happening.
It’s been a fascinating and wild ride. I photographed milestone events for cultural organizations, major corporations, world-class hotels, publicity agencies, retail outlets, Boston’s top restaurants, chefs, and boutiques. I’ve also produced a series of regular photo-columns for local and national newspapers and magazines. Today, while Boston is arguably one of the most culturally vibrant cities in America, memories are fading of how the city got here. Producing a visual narrative that brings to life this exciting era of Boston’s cultural history, has been my artistic and professional mission for many years.
Over the last several winters, I’ve been revisiting thousands of negatives from hundreds of photo-shoots with an eye towards building a historic Boston photo archive. Here is one example. While watching the popular PBS TV show Downton Abbey for the umpteenth time, I suddenly recognized one of the show’s leading characters, Carson, the butler. I had worked with actor Jim Carter in 1975/76 at the Charles Playhouse when he was performing in The Madhouse Company of London’s Wild Stunt Show. I had just finished college and was shooting publicity photos for the show. It was one of my first professional assignments. In basement storage boxes I found the old negatives and made some prints. When I contacted the Boston Globe in February 2016 (Mr. Carter was coming to Boston), editors appreciated my historical “heads-up” and published my shot of Jim with the credit-line, “Roger Farrington file 1976.” Recognizing the 40-year time-span, and the significant number of world-famous cultural icons in my archive, the idea of creating a “celebrity in Boston” exhibition seemed like a logical starting point.
