The Reva and David Logan Gallery of Documentary Photography presents

The Grateful Dead by Jim Marshall:
Photos and Stories from the Formative Years, 1966–1977

Exhibit opening and reception with music by David Gans

Friday, September 12, 2025
North Gate Hall, UC Berkeley

Reception and book sales: 5:30 to 7 pm
Talk:  7 to 8:30 pm

RSVP

 

“The Grateful Dead by Jim Marshall: Photos and Stories from the Formative Years, 1966–1977,” released on August 5 by Chronicle Books and timed with the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Grateful Dead, includes hundreds of color and black and white photographs of the band — many never before seen — taken by legendary photographer Jim Marshall.

Marshall was with the band at Woodstock, the Newport Pop Festival, and Human Be-In and chronicled the band’s early years. The book is co-curated by photographer Amelia Davis, Jim Marshall’s longtime assistant and current archives manager, and musician and music journalist David Gans.

Join us for an exhibit of photos in the Reva and David Logan Gallery of Documentary Photography as well as music by David Gans during a reception with light fare and drinks. The reception will be followed by a talk with Amelia Davis, David Gans and longtime Deadhead and friend Dan Sullivan.

About the Speakers: 

David Gans

David Gans is a California-born musician, author, and radio host. Over the course of his ten years (1976–1986) as a mainstream music journalist, Gans got to know Jim Marshall fairly well. He also developed friendships with members of the Grateful Dead and became a trusted member of the band’s extended family. Gans has since published five books about the Grateful Dead and produced boxed sets, compilations, and tribute albums for the band. His first book (with Peter Simon), Playing in the Band: An Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead, ultimately led to a gig hosting San Francisco radio station KFOG’s Deadhead Hour, which by the summer of 1987 was syndicated across the country (and continues to this day as The Grateful Dead Hour). He consulted on the creation of Sirius Satellite Radio’s Grateful Dead Channel, and since January 2008 has been a cohost of Tales from the Golden Road, a weekly talk show on the channel. His most recent book, Improvised Lives: Grateful Dead 1972–1985, features his own photos of the band. Gans lives in Oakland, California, with his wife, Rita Hurault, and two delightful cats, Percy and Ringo.

Amelia Davis

Amelia Davis, owner of Jim Marshall Photography LLC, was legendary photographer Jim Marshall’s longtime personal assistant. Upon his death in 2010, Marshall left his entire estate to Davis to carry on his legacy. Since his passing, Davis has edited six Jim Marshall monographs and curated yearly photographic exhibitions of Marshall’s work; in 2019, she was the executive producer of the award-winning feature-length documentary on the life of Jim Marshall, Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall. Davis, a San Francisco–based award-winning photographer, has three books of her own: The First Look (about breast cancer survivors), My Story: A Photographic Essay on Living with Multiple Sclerosis, and Faces of Osteoporosis. Davis continues to preach the “gospel” of Jim Marshall.

Dan Sullivan

Dan Sullivan is a passionate music fan, amateur music historian, and has been a Deadhead for the past 45 years. He first met Jim Marshall, Amelia Davis, and Bonita Passarelli in 2002 at an introductory dinner arranged by his new sweetheart (and Marshall’s ex), Michelle Margetts. Marshall’s very first words to Sullivan: “If you break her heart, I’ll fucking kill you.” To which Sullivan responded “Oh yeah? What’ll you do if she breaks my fucking heart?” Marshall cracked up and laughed hard. Until his death in 2010, he always made Sullivan feel welcome. Sullivan retired in 2020 after a long career as an NGO representative at the United Nations, a PhD student in German history, and an administrator at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He never broke Margetts’ heart: The two were married in 2018 and live today with their cats Janis and Grace in Alameda, California.

Moderator/Host

Ken Light

Ken Light, the Reva & David Logan Professor of Photojournalism at Berkeley Journalism, has worked as a freelance documentary photographer for over fifty years, focusing on social issues facing America. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and his work has been published in twelve books, in magazines, exhibitions and numerous anthologies, exhibition catalogues and a variety of media, digital and motion picture.

His most recent book Course of the Empire published by Steidl portrays a decade of mounting tension in a polarized America, from Wall Street to the rural heartland and is a portrait of the American social landscape and is a riveting historical and visual record of a complicated country in a complicated time. Midnight La Frontera (TBW Books) describes in piercing words and in strobe lit images caught against the dark of night, Midnight La Frontera’s immediacy underscores the struggle and defiance of those who make the perilous hike for days and weeks in search of the American Dream. What’s Going On? 1969-1974 explores his earliest work as a young photographer documenting the social landscape of America as it roiled with upheaval. His book Valley of Shadows & Dreams (Heyday Book) was published in 2012. He has taught at the J-School since 1983.

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Join us in making an impact

The event is free to the public, but we hope you will consider a tax-deductible gift to the  Jim Marshall Fellowship. This  current use fund provides support for high-achieving graduate students at UC Berkeley Journalism who use photography in their work. The financial support awarded to students from the fellowship allows them to focus on creative projects of their choice that ultimately become their thesis. In a similar fashion to Jim Marshall’s own photography, the Jim Marshall Fellows have told stories that capture the lives of  women, immigrants, people of color and  experiences and movements that enrich the public discourse through truthful photo journalism.

Please read about past Jim Marshall Fellowship recipients here. 

 

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