Past Exhibition

William Snyder: It's Only Rock N' Roll

June 02, 2023–August 06, 2023

Snyder Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen soars during Van Halen’s performance at Reunion Arena in Dallas, TX., July 1984.

William Snyder is an American photojournalist and former Director of Photography for The Dallas Morning News, where he won four Pulitzer Prizes for his photography and editing work.  In 2008, Snyder returned to his alma mater, RIT, where he has overseen the Photojournalism BFA program, and currently oversees the Advertising Photography BFA program.

Snyder has been capturing live music for over 50 years, and has been the official photographer for The Who for over 18 years. In 2017, RIT City Art Space (formerly Gallery r) presented a solo exhibition of Snyder's photographs (Picturing The Who) capturing The Who's performance at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. His latest book, Join Together (With The Band), features over 200 pages of black and white and color photos from over 30 years of photographing The Who, including essays from Snyder about his adventures with the band. Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) contributed a moving forward about his love for The Who and Snyder's photos. 50% of the profits from the book will go to Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey's favorite charity, Teen Cancer America. The book is published by PSG Publishing.

In addition to The Who, Snyder's enthusiasm for photographing live music has has led to an impressive archive of images, capturing iconic performers from David Bowie to Amy Winehouse, Diana Ross, KISS on their first North American tour, and recent appearances by artists like Eddie Vedder, Joan Jett, and PINK. This show highlights some of Snyder's best shots from his 50-year career. 

William Snyder Headshot by Clay Patrick McBride
William Snyder photographed by Clay Patrick McBride