I was lucky as a teenager to have discovered the guitar and the camera at the same moment in time. By exploring these wonderful tools, my life was transformed into an adventure which took me places and led to encounters with people I found interesting beyond measure. Growing up as a child, I fell in love with airplanes, and, of course, the stories about them took flight in my imagination. In 1964, one of my first self assigned projects involved taking photos of WWII aircraft being restored and flown in Texas (I was 13 years old at that time). As the shutter opened and closed, I decided that I would continue to track the restoration of these icons taking place at that time.
I remember trying to figure out the lead guitar solo for The Last Time by the Rolling Stones when their hit was released in 1965. At that time I was playing rock ‘n’ roll in high school. I had no clue then that decades later I would have photo access to their Voodoo Lounge Backline in 1994. My love affair with the guitar led to assignments capturing images of a Martin 200 year anniversary commemorative D-45 guitar and also a factory study of The Collings Guitar Company. It’s that kind of serendipitous synchronicity that has permeated my work and includes: The Stones, Willie Nelson, George Jones, Eric Johnson, Rotel and The Hot Tomatoes. Other personalities that have crossed my lens include: Richard Nixon, Ron Paul, Cindy Sheehan, Penn Jones, and J. Gary Shaw.
Images included on this website are from sites in Texas and are also drawn from locations in London, Amsterdam, the Yucatan, New Mexico & Hawaii. As time permits, I will be adding additional images for your review. My photographic and music archives are housed at The Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas in Austin.
For information regarding the images presented here, please email via the Contact tab. Thank you and All the Best… Oscar Decker