Magic in the Light: A photographic journey of Bruce Springsteen’s career lands at Morven Museum & Garden

By Adam Grybowski
   It took many years for Frank Stefanko to discover the secret inside one of his best-selling photographs of Bruce Springsteen.
   Originally shot in 1978, the photo shows Springsteen sitting on the headlight of his Corvette, which is parked along the curb of a suburban street in Haddonfield. A young man, Springsteen looks directly into the camera, his brow knit, his mouth ajar, his hands jammed into the pockets of his leather jacket. What, or who, is he expecting?
   One day, years after capturing the moment, Mr. Stefanko looked at the photo and began thinking about the porch in the background. He realized, “My god, this is “Thunder Road!’” Recounting the story recently during a phone conversation, he begins to recite the lyrics:
   And my car’s out back / If you’re ready to take that long walk / From your front porch to my front seat / The door’s open but the ride ain’t free.
   Without knowing it, Mr. Stefanko had captured an image that represented the story, the characters and the themes of a song that has resonated with hundreds of thousands of fans since its release in 1975. His photograph offers a visual representation of the lyrics those fans have been singing for decades — in unison with Springsteen during sold-out stadiums shows and alone by themselves on the way to work.
   Mr. Springsteen chose the photograph for the cover of his recently released autobiography, “Born to Run,” as well as the book’s companion album, “Chapter and Verse.” It also appears as one of 42 photographs of The Boss that make up “Bruce Springsteen: A Photographic Journey,” a traveling exhibit organized by the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles that is on view at Morven Museum & Garden in Princeton through May 21, 2017.
   Mr. Stefanko is one of six photographers whose work is exhibited. Along with the others — Danny Clinch, Ed Gallucci, Eric Meola, Barry Schneier and Pamela Springsteen (Mr. Springsteen’s sister) — the exhibit documents the career of the rock ‘n’ roll icon and New Jersey native, mostly through off-stage portraits.
   ”Part of our mission is to show the cultural heritage of New Jersey, and who’s more New Jersey than Bruce Springsteen?” says Morven Curator Elizabeth Allan, noting that many new faces appeared at the show’s opening on Nov. 17. “People feel a connection to him. He comes across as a normal guy and an everyday person, but it’s more complicated than simply presenting a persona. His image comes from a deeper place.”
   In the exhibit, viewers see Mr. Springsteen transform from a young Jersey Shore rat (“Greeting From Asbury Park” era) to a dusty cowboy (“Ghost of Tom Joad” era) to the elder rock ‘n’ roll laureate who is defying age and convention by performing the longest concerts of his career (present era). Only four of the photographs show the performer on stage.
   Mr. Stefanko first shot Mr. Springsteen in 1978, shortly before the release of “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” the eagerly anticipated, long-delayed, follow-up to “Born to Run.” Eric Meola photographed the “Born to Run” cover, which depicted Mr. Springsteen leaning against saxophonist Clarence Clemons. Writing in his autobiography, Springsteen says the photo is “filled with the resonance, the mythology, of rock’s past, and a freshness calling toward its future.”
   Mr. Stefanko, who had been listening to, and idolizing, Mr. Springsteen since his first record in 1972, was well aware of the iconic black-and-white cover, and though he admired it, he says when it came time to photograph Mr. Springsteen, he didn’t let it intimidate him. He also knew he was a different kind of photographer.
   ”I’m not a studio photographer,” Mr. Stefanko says. “I don’t travel with a bank of strobes and reflectors and an entourage. I usually work one and one, and it’s quick. I don’t spend a lot of time setting up and lighting a shot. I look for the best lighting conditions and, bam, I just shoot it how I see it.”
   Mr. Springsteen first heard of Mr. Stefanko from Patti Smith, who knew the photographer from their days as college students at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University). She set the two Jersey boys up to shoot in and around Mr. Stefanko’s home in Haddonfield.
   ”Bruce came down with a shopping bag with some flannel shirts and jeans and that was his wardrobe,” Mr. Stefanko says. “There was no preconceived format on how we were going to do things. I had just moved in, and there were a lot of unfurnished areas. We sat in the living room and looked for nooks and crannies where he could pose.”
   At one point, they went upstairs into the bedroom Mr. Stefanko shared with his wife. Mr. Springsteen stood in front of the flowery wallpaper, stuck his hands in his leather jacket and gave the camera what he calls in his autobiography his best “troubled young man” look. It became the cover of “Darkness on the Edge of Town.”
   In many ways, the record departed thematically from Mr. Springsteen’s previous work. While still confined, the characters in his songs were less prone to bust out and escape, choosing instead to face the circumstances of their lives. Even the music — while still explosive — was less grand, leaner, tougher. Mr. Stefanko’s photographs reflect the changes in Mr. Springsteen’s art.
   ”Bruce’s characters had grown up and become more mature,” Mr. Stefanko says. “They were looking for redemption, but there was an edge to them. People who had taken pictures of Bruce before were very slick, salon-finished. They were very nice, but mine were edgy.”
   As his autobiography confirms, Mr. Springsteen is nothing if not the steward of his own career. He was no less involved in the creation of his image during the Darkness sessions than his song lyrics, Mr. Stefanko says. “I was amazed at how hands-on he was. What Bruce was looking for and putting out, he might not have told you what it was in words, but he was telling you what he wanted with his look or stance or body language.”
   Over a period of a few weeks, they shot for about five days total in various locations in New Jersey and New York City. When it came time to show Mr. Springsteen the results, Mr. Stefanko traveled to New York, where he says Mr. Springsteen was staying in a hotel near Central Park. He arrived during a snowstorm, found Mr. Springsteen in his room and handed him the contact sheets.
   ”He reached under his bed to grab a magnifying flashlight,” Mr. Stefanko says. “He started looking at every frame and marking them and commenting on them. He knew what he wanted. There’s nothing in the process that he doesn’t have input on.”
   When “The River” came out in 1980, Springsteen chose another portrait from the same session as the cover image. Mr. Stefanko, who released “Days of Hope and Dreams” (Billboard Books, 2003), a book of Springsteen portraits from 1978-82, has continued to shoot the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member throughout his career.
   The longevity of Mr. Springsteen’s career, his ability to reach across generations and touch fans of many ages, means the older photographs have also continued to resonate across time. Mr. Stefanko says he has lost count of the number of times he has been stopped by fans who tell him how meaningful his work has been to them.
   ”When I took them, I never realized how important the photographs would be to other people, how they would influence them growing up,” he says. “It just warms me up. The pictures do mean something. It was a seminal time for Bruce, and many people relate to that particular era of Bruce’s life. The fact that we were able to touch people with our art means more to me than the money or anything else.”
“Bruce Springsteen: A Photographic Journey” is on view at Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton St., Princeton, through May 21, 2017. Admission costs $10. The photographers will appear for a panel discussion moderated by Bob Santelli, executive director of the GRAMMY Museum, March 5, 2017. For more information, go to www.morven.org or call 609-924-8144.