Daniel Duffin is a photographer, writer, and banjo enthusiast who had taken advantage of the opportunity to capture his favorite pickers, Earl Scruggs and J.D. Crowe, on film in the comfort of their own homes. Now that these legends have left us, Daniel has created a very nice web site called Banjo Legends where his photos are displayed.
These images date back quite some time, to 1973-74 for Scruggs and 1983 for Crowe. Duffin shot dozens of photos of these impressive banjo icons, both taken when they were in their prime. There are also shots of Earl backstage at the Opry, and on stage.
Now we’ve all seen great pictures of these two throughout their careers. What makes these so special as to have their own web site?
Well, Daniel is a terrific photographer, and he used a Hasselblad 500c large format film camera with both 50 and 80mm lenses for the shots taken in Earl and J.D.’s home. After processing and developing the film, it was carefully stored away until recently when the negatives were digitized for online display.
The Banjo Legends site is a gift from Duffin to the bluegrass community. All of these classic images are offered for high resolution viewing at no cost, though saving and copying have been disabled.
Daniel is also working on editing a lengthy audio interview he did with Earl when he visited with him at home. Currently he is working through about three hours of tapes, and will add these audio files to the site once he is finished. He mentioned to us how fortunate it is that almost 50 years after the fact, the cassette tapes were still in good shape.
Any fan of Earl Scruggs or J.D. Crowe, and anyone who appreciates fine photography, is encouraged to visit the Banjo Legends site and enjoy the images.
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