MACON, Ga. — You may associate Kirk West with the Allman Brothers, but West has also done extensive work with a lot of celebrities.
It all hangs downtown on Third Street in Macon.
"I'm really astounded. We're five years in downtown Macon," West said.
He's best known as the former tour manager for the Allman Brothers Band.
But he always had a camera in hand, shooting the Macon-based guys on stage in the 60s and 70s before scooting into other venues to shoot other rock legends.
"It was a different world back then. If you acted like you were supposed to be there shooting, then people believed you were supposed to be there shooting," he recalled.
About 300 images are for sale at Gallery West near Third and Cherry Street. They've had this space for five years now.
Kirsten West says she knew her husband's work had to go on display.
"Oh, it was my idea in the first place," she said with a smile.
And Kirk had a chance to show-off a little.
"This little area here with the Tom Whites and Jerry Garcia and Johnny Cash is like...wow, I mean if we had room at home, I'd be hanging my prints on canvas too," he said.
What makes this anniversary so special is that Gallery West wasn't supposed to be a long term deal. They had envisioned just a pop-up shop for around the holidays.
"I had done a couple of pop-ups in New York City at the end of the Allman Brothers run," West said.
That's what gave them the idea to open up shop in Macon.
And as time passed, the Wests found a niche. Not so much with the locals, but with the world that came to Macon to celebrate music.
"You know our homies here...it takes them years. They'll walk in the front door and say, 'How long you been here? Five years, oh my goodness,'" West said. "But we get a lot of tourists with the Big House and now with Capricorn Studios... just the whole legacy of music in Macon."
"Because of the association it has with the Allman Brothers, with Otis Redding, with Little Richard and James Brown, and now Capricorn itself, Macon is a music mecca," Kirsten said.
A mecca with photographs to prove its heritage and the musical timeline of a space in history.
MORE ON MACON MUSIC
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