Charles Peterson (born 1964 in

Longview, Washington Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 37,818 at the time of the ...

) is an American photographer well known for his work with the Seattle

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

and for capturing the then-newly emerging

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby to ...

scene in images. His photos are presented in the movie '' Kurt Cobain: About a Son''. Peterson is known for depicting the rise of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

underground music scene in the late 1980s to early 1990s. Visually, he is known for his trademark full-frame, non-cropped images. Reviews about his work include the following, "Peterson is known for his action-packed, sometimes partially blurred black-and-white shots taken with a wide-angle lens. Peterson said, "The Seattle audiences were entertaining. I didn't want to just get a head shot of the lead singer. I wanted to get the experience, make you actually feel like you're there. ... I like the composition part of shooting. The way my eyes and brain work together -- I'm constantly composing with or without a camera."

Private life

Peterson's introduction to photography was as a youngster watching his uncle developing film. He attended Bothell High and his photographs were in the school newspaper and yearbook. His livelihood today mainly comes from licensing his photographs and books. He does some commercial shoots but does not photograph many bands. He lives in Seattle with his wife, son Felix and daughter Leica.

Publications

*''Touch Me I'm Sick,'' by Jennie Boddy (Author), Eddie Vedder (Author, Introduction), Charles Peterson (Photographer)(PowerHouse, 2003) *''Screaming Life : A Chronicle of the Seattle Music Scene,'' Charles Peterson (Author, Photographer) (Harper Collins, 1995) *''Pearl Jam: Place/Dat''e, Charles Peterson (Author), Lance Mercer (Author) (Rizzoli/Vitalogy, 1997) *''Cypher'', Jeff Chang (Author), Charles Peterson (Photographer), (PowerHouse Books 2008)

Exhibitions

*Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk Virginia, February–May 2005 *Seattle's Experience Music Project (EMP) *Galerie Chappe, Paris "''Kurt Cobain, About A Son''" November 2008 *''Experiencing Nirvana'' (2014) Camden, UK

Films

* ''All apologies: Kurt Cobain 10 years (2006)'' * ''The Last 48 hours of Kurt Cobain'' (2007) * ''Seven ages of rock'' (2007) *''Hype!'' (1996) *Photographs were used in ''Cobain: Montage of Heck'' (2015) *''Too young to die: Kurt Cobain'' (2012)

References

External links

* 1964 births Living people People from Longview, Washington American photographers University of Washington alumni Music of the Pacific Northwest {{US-photographer-stub