Paul Goldfinger photograph. Asbury Park at The Rising.
In 2004, a photography project was developed called America 24/7. More than 5,000 professional, amateur, and student photographers set about to “go out and shoot digital pictures that tell us about your life, your community, your state, and your country. ” Each state had a book published.
“More than a million images were taken for the project, and the best were selected by 36 of the nation’s leading photo editors.” The quotes here are from the book which was published in 2004.
New Jersey 24/7 wound up with 540 images “adding up to a panoramic view of life across the Garden State.” The editors of the New Jersey book were Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen from the New York Times. They said the book contained “extraordinary images of one week in New Jersey.”
The photograph that was chosen for the book’s cover was my image of lifeguards on the beach in Asbury Park on July 30, 2002 at the debut of Springsteen’s new album The Rising.
I used to walk over to Asbury Park from the Grove, and in those days, the beachfront was deserted, and there were concerns about crime.
But for the Springsteen event, the producers set up the beach as if it were a thriving resort. There was live music and large crowds. I went down on the beach where the Morning Show was being broadcast with Katy Couric who was being interviewed while standing in the surf while hot lights illuminated her.
Here is a link to the article on Blogfinger in 2013 which I posted using the same photograph and a few others taken that July day. There is a song from the album.
Blogfinger report on The Rising July 2002
Another Blogfinger photograph was chosen for the book, and that was a shot of Tent Village in Ocean Grove.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. From his album The Rising:
