THE LOST COLLECTION GALLERY

SCROLL DOWN FOR MICHAEL MALTESE'S IMAGES

1967 to 1973

Living in the Baltimore/Washington DC area, during the late 60's and 70's, there were major venues and all the emerging names were playing here.

It began by my simply talking my way in.  I combined my love of photography with a passion for music, especially rock in that era.  Processing all my own work, shooting only with available light.

The music industry grew beyond its fun period for me and in 1973 I put the camera down, And so, the negatives and transparencies sat, in storage, for over three decades.

Late in 2005, (35th Anniversary Rolling Stones return to Baltimore) I began printing some of my work and found that it was the first step in making it available to buyers and collectors. Virtually all of the images had never been seen nor published, until then.

The LOST COLLECTION includes over 30 premiere artists and groups from that era. In some cases, many shots were taken during a performance (Rolling Stones, 10 days before Altamont, b&w and color). Others include a March 1968 performance by The Jimi Hendrix Experience  in the main ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC. For other artists, such as Janis Joplin, there are just a few color photos from her show which featured The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Joe Cocker. Ironically, most of the shots are candid Butterfield backstage and Cocker. In Janis' case, I just ran out of film.

The LOST COLLECTION is currently cataloging thousands of never before seen images.
The point of view is either backstage, on stage or in front of the artist on stage.