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About the photographer:

David Warrington took his first photograph at the early age of 4 years old. His mother, being a photographer, put a camera in his hands and he took a photo of her sitting on her horse. She was 21 years old. The year was 1968.

On April 23, 1979, on Davids 15th birthday he registered an assumed business name, The Photo Eye, with the corporation commissioner in the state of Oregon, thus beginning his career as a photographer while still in high school.

In high school David worked on the school newspaper, The Cardinal Times. At the time he was the only freshman to have the basic design class waived after he demonstrated to the photography instructor his knowledge of photography. While tending to his studies David also lettered in wrestling and football and helped to create three out of the four yearbooks at Lincoln High School. He photographed sporting events, the Rose Festival Courts, classmates just having fun, and began documenting local historic landmarks.

Davids love for sports motivated him to photograph such athletic teams as the Portland Trailblazers, Portland Winterhawks, and the Beavers Baseball Club. A few of the images that were taken at this time still remain some of his favorites; images like Hank Aaron watching a home run hit out of the ball park, Willie Stargell sitting with a few teammates on third base, Magic Johnson missing a dunk, Dr. J doing the Finger roll, Chocolate Thunder slam dunking it in Special Ks face, and more.

In 1982 when David was 18 years old his love for music brought him to photograph The Who, Jimmy Cliff, and The Grateful Dead among others. It was at this time that he captured the most celebrated Grateful Dead image out there. In the words of the late great concert promoter Bill Graham: I must tell you that, to me, your shot of the dancers in Oregon captures in a most definitive manner that magic spirit of the sixties that has survived through the decades and still exists today for those of us fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. During the filming of the Doors movie Bill Graham gave Oliver Stone one of the prints of this image that he purchased from David. This image was the late Bill Grahams favorite photograph.

In the early 80s musical venues like the Greek Theater in Berkley, the Frost Theater at Stanford University, and Red Rocks in Colorado, among many others, became a focus for David. These were favorite venues for Grateful Dead Heads.

In 1988 David established the Arts and Entertainment Section for the Statesman Journal in Salem, Or and throughout the 1990s he spent a great deal of time photographing Rock and Roll musicians.

The 90s also occupied Davids time with festivals, fairs, and benefits like: H.O.R.D.E., Furthur, The Lilith Fair, the Oregon Country Fair, and The Bridge School Benefit to name a few.

In 1993 David did a photo shoot of Neil and Pegi Young on their Harley Davidsons. David then took the classic Easy Rider photograph of Neil and turned it into a beautiful poster with all the proceeds going to Neil and Pegi Youngs Bridge School. This is the only poster Neil Young has ever endorsed having signed it Rust and Chrome, Neil Young. This poster brought in over $10,000 to the school. The Rex Foundation has also benefited from Davids Photography to help generate funds.

In 2003 David worked with Sony Signatures to produce over 3000 shirts from 5 photographs he had taken of Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1990. The project was authorized through the estate of Stevie Ray Vaughan.

You can see some of Davids work nationally at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where images of Jerry Garcia are on permanent display. Also while living in Maine he did business with Steven Kings Rock and Roll radio station where he left them with a collection of fine images.

David is continually working with the Grateful Dead Archives at the University of California at Santa Cruz helping to add to their growing archives of Grateful Dead nostalgia.

Currently David is working on a book to be called A Look At Music. He continues to scan his old school film to help build his digital library.

The Photo Eye

The Photo Eye Archives