Friday, October 21, 2016

Jennifer Livingston - Post 8

Bill Ray





1)   Before Bill Ray was able to take photos of Hell’s Angels and do a story on it, he first had to meet with them. Under certain conditions was he allowed to take photos of the group in the year of 1965. The first blindfolded him, put him in a car and drove to a bar in the mountains. After he played some pool with one of the guys, him and Bride were allowed to shadow them and take photos. For more than a month he spent time with the group mostly on weekends taking photos.

2)   All three of the images were taken during Bill Ray’s time with Hell’s Angels. His images showed the life that these people chose for themselves.  At the time when the photos were taken, Hell’s Angels was a new concept for the society; which some deemed unacceptable. Because they had so much time on their hands, most of it was spent drinking, smoking, or throwing punches. Ray says there was always a sense of being on edge, because anything could happen unexpectedly.

3)   Ray first landed a job with Lincoln Journal-Star, but ultimately wanted a job with LIFE so he could travel to different places. During his time with LIFE he followed a Biker’s group called Hell’s Angels. According to Ray the Bikers despised the American way, held no jobs, and basically spent all of their time either on the road or in bars; sometimes for days at a time. His time spent with the gang taking photos was to try and show others why this group of people chose to live the life they did.

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