Photographing the Muses: Photography of ACL

By Chris Reichman

When Scott Newton moved to Austin in the early 70s, he didn't come with the intention of documenting some of the best musicians in the world for over three decades. But, 30 years later, he has amassed one of the largest archives of musicians in the world, all of whom have appeared on Austin City Limits.

He has had a front-row seat every show; even photographing his high school idol, Robert Plant. That show, he recalls, blew him away, his jaw open. Norah Jones, on the other hand, reminded him of the Greek goddess Athena. And he hopes to keep taking those pictures for at least another decade.

Newton, who grew up in cities around the country as a child because his father was in the military, moved from Dallas to Austin, drawn to its free spirit. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1979.

"All my friends had moved here," he says. "In the early 70s if you were a freethinker or in anyway different the only place you were welcome was in Austin."

Scott Newton on the 'wild and crazy' early days

Newton never studied photography -- he majored in English -- but had always photographed people to make a little extra money on the side. In the 1970s, he started going to the Armadillo Headquarters.

"My friends were musicians," Newton says. "I would take a camera to the shows and photograph the bands from the crowd. At some point I thought, maybe I can make a living out of this."

Around the time ACL was starting, Newton was freelancing and working at the Austin Opera House, a honky-tonk. ACL was piggy-backing on the acts that were coming into town to play at the Opera House because, as part of public broadcasting, ACL couldn't afford to pay more than scale. When Newton heard there was a photographer's job opening at ACL, he couldn't imagine he could get it, since he didn't know anyone there. Luckily, he had a friend, who was connected, make the call for him.

"I met with Terry [Lickona, producer] and showed him my work. Terry said, 'These are all the same people we've had, only the pictures are better,'" Newton recalls. "He hired me on the spot."

From that day Newton has photographed every show.

At first, ACL paid for only two rolls of black and white film and one roll of color; anything more than that, he paid for himself. Today, with digital photography, he can take limitless photos.

Name the band -- Scott probably has a shot of them doing a solo or a backstage picture of them drinking beers and hanging out. He has documented an enormous selection of musicians, including BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, Garth Brooks, Coldplay, John Mayer, and Dirks Bentley.

Newton's work makes up the third leg of the ACL stool: which includes the video, the audio, and the photography.

Scott Newton's unique access to ACL

"I'm in a really unique position because I hide between the cameras and take pictures with no other photographers in the way," he says. "It's great."

While the audio would be considered the most important part of the show, it's the photography that expresses the feeling most quickly.

One picture can tell you a whole story; Newton calls it bringing out the muses. He talks about the muses he studied in Greek mythology classes – that it is not the actors acting, but the muses. To Newton, the musicians are channeling the muses. Newton's job is to photograph those muses when they appear.

Scott Newton's muses

"It's like collecting images from the great channelers," Newton says.

Newton sees his role within ACL seeing the whole production.

"I've been doing this for three decades," he says. "People usually retire after 20 years. I can see myself doing this for another ten."