Barry Levine's Woodstock Leica Camera and Press Pass Credentials for the historic Woodstock Festival in August, 1969

As the only still photographer on the Warner Bros. film "Woodstock," Barry Z Levine has more than 300 color slides from the nearly 4-day Woodstock Festival. His access pass allowed him to ride in helicopters and to film performers off- and on-stage. He was able to document the construction and the cleanup of the grounds during his 10-day attendance. The renowned Levine collection is unique in the world and maybe you can capture a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a piece of this American history.

This special lot consists of Levine's Leica Camera and an original letter, dated August 1, 1969, on The Woodstock Group stationery, issued to "Barry Levine, Columbia Records." This letter served as a "formal letter of identification" to Levine authorizing him to collect his Press Pass Credentials "entitling him to a 3-day admittance to the Woodstock Music and Art Fairgrounds." Due to its age and handling, the letter is in fragile condition, yellowed, with some paper loss at the edges and with creases from being folded into sixths.

"Boy, if this camera could speak, what a tale it would tell. Yet, its photos speak volumes more than 50 years later." Levine adds, " I carried it and 2 others non-stop for days. It did what I asked and never failed me. There was no time for failure, no way to fix or replace; I was the only still photographer on the film. I had to use what I brought in, no way or time to get out. Most of 16mm Eclairs were down by the end of the gig. However, this little camera helped to capture it all; from rain to shine, from day to night, from walking in mud to walking in water, from down under the stage to up in the 'copter. And now, like me, it's showing some wear due to its extended age and use. I tucked it away in working order years ago. Haven't used it since. Its original leather strap is still attached but nearly worn through. What's more, although I seldom used it, its brown leather case with strap is part of the deal."

Armed with his all-access press pass, Levine was free to roam the grounds for days before and days after. The pass allowed Levine to ride a helicopter assigned to his film crew for the Warner Bros. Academy Award winning documentary film, "Woodstock." He took many famous aerial shots of the massive crowd of nearly 500,000. Barry used the special wooden platform at stage-front where he and film cameramen comfortably captured close-ups of the acts. Harsh stage lighting made camera work extremely difficult. Cameras preserved it for world history; Levine was there. It was a happening. How did the crowd reach this farm in upstate New York? They came with no cell phones, emails, GPS, or websites? This iconic event can never be duplicated even with the help of today's technology. The crowd was peaceful in spite of running out of food and water and depending on the "locals" to bring in sandwiches. For over 50 years, until the recent "Women's-Me Too" protest marches, it was the largest peaceful protest in history.

The film "Woodstock" is the reason the 1969 Festival has become world famous. The Academy Award winning film has been the highest grossing documentary film in history. The "Woodstock" film (1970) has been preserved by the Library of congress in our National Registry for being culturally, aesthetically, and/or historically significant. In the film, Barry's voice is heard interviewing Joan Baez as he shoots her image with his film crew team. You can also see some of these auction slides in the film. His slides are featured world-wide, many of them are one-of-a-kind. No one else has anything like Barry's collection filmed in historic Ectachrome color. His slide collection along with his camera and press access pass are for sale at this auction.As you will discover in the various lots in this auction, Barry's slides of the Woodstock event include a playful 9 shot walkup series on Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix playing the National Anthem, and the only shot of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young at the event. Besides Barry's famous hardcover Woodstock Story Book, his newest books, in collaboration with his wife, Linanne Sackett, include the interactive Woodstock Story eBook which is close to feeling like you are virtually there, and The Cameramen of Woodstock - a look behind the scenes of the Academy Award winning film WOODSTOCK on its 50th Anniversary.

Barry Z Levine holds ALL copyrights for his creative materials.

Condition: More detailed condition reports and additional photographs are available by request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that the lot is in very fine condition. Please message us through the online bidding platform or email Guernsey's at auctions@guernseys.com to request a more thorough condition report.