“Elvis. The birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Presenting a unique exhibition of original photographs by artist Alfred Wertheimer, an American photographer who knew the ‘King’ before he was crowned.

“Elvis what?” was the question that photographer Al Wertheimer asked when at the beginning of 1956 an RCA Victor publicist asked him to photograph the new up and coming Memphis sensation. Wertheimer could not have suspected that this would become his life’s commission: at the age of 21, Elvis, as we now know, was about to become a legend. Glued to him at the hip, Wertheimer had complete freedom to approach Elvis: even while seducing young admirers in dark corridors, the singer allowed him to document each of his movements. That year, Wertheimer took about 3,000 photographs and created the incisive portrait of a man on the brink of stardom. Of incomparable intimacy and extension, Wertheimer’s project immortalized a young man who was preparing to make history. Just a month after portraying Elvis during Do Not Be Cruel/ Hound Dog recording sessions, the album became the first to lead in three Billboard charts.

The exhibition consists of about 30 original photographs in different formats, signed by the photographer and numbered editions that will be on sale to the public, as well as books and affordable print editions.

Alfred Wertheimer was born in Germany in 1929, and immigrated to the United States while just a boy to settle in Brooklyn. His early interest in architecture and design led him to the Cooper Union, where he graduated in 1951. Wertheimer’s photographs, which attracted international attention for the first time after Elvis Presley’s death on August 16, 1977, capture the metamorphosis of pop music and the cultural transformation of the United States of America.