Eric Algra

“Most people who take up photography will initially turn their cameras toward a subject they’re passionate about. For me, that was rock’n’roll. In early 1978, after I’d photographed a number of concerts and local gigs in my hometown Adelaide, I met Donald Robertson, editor of Roadrunner. I soon became principal photographer for this exciting new music magazine. I found myself going out three or four nights a week to photograph local gigs and all the big concerts. Not just for Roadrunner, but also for fun and often at the request of local bands. This became my social life, one I really enjoyed. Many of the good people I met during this period became lifelong friends. As the old saying goes, though, all good things come to an end. Roadrunner’s demise in 1983 was sad but it certainly wasn’t the end of me attending gigs as a music-loving patron. And yes, I still take along a camera.”

“These days, I work as a documentary photographer, doing both commissioned and personal work. This takes me to interesting places and has introduced me to many inspiring people. Photography, as an art form, a record, an expression of unnameable yearnings, remains a driving passion. That and rock’n’roll, of course. In 2021 I published Rock’n’Roll City, a collection of photographs from the Roadrunner days, widely regarded as a seminal period in Australian music history.”