LEADER OF THE PACK ALBUM COVER PHOTO BY HUGH BELL LICENSED FOR ABORTION DRAMA FEATURE CALL JANE, CURRENTLY IN THEATRICAL RELEASE
/Now in theaters, director Phyllis Nagy’s CALL JANE, stars Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, and Kate Mara, in a drama about a 1960s housewife (Banks) who joins the Jane Collective to fight for women's rights as she struggles to cope with her need for an abortion during a time of limited social or political support. Hugh Bell’s photo for the cover of The Shangri-Las 1965 debut album was licensed to the production, one of many commercial photos by Hugh Bell, whose photographs appeared on dozens of album covers throughout the period. They primarily featured jazz artists, including Sarah Vaughn, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Cannonball Adderly, Houston Person, Bill Hardman, Larry Coryell, and the Nat Dixon Quartet.
Hugh Bell was a renowned art and commercial photographer, who worked in New York City over the course of his entire professional career. In 2014 GME was engaged on an exclusive basis by the Bell Estate to manage the collection of Hugh Bell’s photographs and to further the artist’s legacy. GME is committed to resurrecting the career of this overlooked photographer, through licensing of his photographs, republishing his out-of-print books, mounting curated exhibitions, and in identifying a long-term repository for this significant collection of photographic works.
All photographs © The Estate of Hugh Bell