Get a unique view of well-known performers in new Depot Gallery exhibit

"On Stage" is the title of a show of pictures — many of them quite theatrical — taken by fifteen concert photographers, at the Depot Gallery, 200 S Jones Ave. The exhibit, curated by photographers Michael Duncan and Cody Giles, runs through May 7, at the train station gallery in Norman.

One of the most dramatic is Chris Coffey's "Black Milk," a color photo of a member of the Nat Turner Band, holding his mike upside down over his mouth, as he belts out a song.

Similar, but less intense, is a picture by Dylan Johnson of "Zoe Kravitz," as she kneels and casually tilts the microphone toward her lips, in a 2017 New York City concert.

In a photo by Chris Zahller, three "Cosmonauts" band members resemble living statues, as they lean forward into a song, in front of an orange sky.

Color dominates Giles' "Japanese Breakfast," a closeup of a bearded musician in a blue stocking cap, playing what looks like a guitar, at the 2019 Norman Arts Festival.

Red, pierced by spotlights, suffuses Doug Hill's picture of "Captain Jack McDuff," silhouetted in a round-brimmed hat, playing guitar at Norman's Sooner Theatre in 2000.

Red also dominates a picture of the "Flaming Lips" in a 2013 New York concert, also taken by Oklahoma native Johnson.

"Ketch Secor" of the Old Crow Medicine Show, clad in a blue-green cowboy shirt, his glasses pulled down on his nose, seems to be playing his violin with great nuance, in a photo by Tom Dunning.

Towering over us, her mouth open wide as she sings, over the guitar she holds in front of her polka dot dress, is "Carter Sampson (Queen of Oklahoma)," in a striking photo. The Sampson picture was taken by Norman-based photographer and exhibit co-curator Duncan, at Norman's Summer Breeze outdoor concert series, in 2021.

Another fine photo is one of "Bill 'Watermelon Slim' Homans," holding a hand thoughtfully to one side of his face, taken in 2001, in Oklahoma City, by Hill.

Equally unforced and engaging is a color closeup of the side of the head of "Tom Petty," on tour in Oklahoma City in 2017, taken by Doug Hoke, who is also a photographer for The Okahoman.

The "On Stage" exhibit is highly recommended in its run through May 7. Also on view, but running through June 4 in the Depot's smaller gallery, are photos of "Jimi Hendrix in Black and White." The backstage and on stage photos of the late guitar legend, getting ready for a 1970 show in Dallas, were taken by Neil Kingsley, a Depot board member and musician who died in 2020.

Depot Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Call 405-307-9320, or visit normandepot.org for information.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Exhibit 'On Stage' is being shown at Depot Gallery in Norman