In Remembrance: David Myers

     David Myers, the cinematographer best known for his work on concert films such as Woodstock and The Last Waltz, has passed away on Thursday, August 26, 2004 in Marin County on Thursday August 26, 2004. He was 90.

     Born on May 8, 1914 in Auburn, New York, Myers was inspired to start a career in still photography after viewing an exhibition of the work of Walker Evans at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1938. While attending Antioch College, he enrolled in a student work program with the Farm Security Administration in Washington DC. While there he worked on a photo essay of federal civil servants.

     Myers was a conscientious objector during World War II. He did work for the United States Forest Service planting trees and later worked in a Spokane, Washington mental institute where he made photographic studies of incoming patients. He began his motion picture career in 1954 when his friend, photographer Imogen Cunningham insisted that he serve as cameraman on a short film she was directing.

     Myers was on the leading cameramen in the cinema verite documentary movement in the 1960s starting with his work on the documentary shorts like Black Panthers (1968). His first feature length film was the groundbreaking concert film Woodstock (1970) where he was one of five cameramen filming the historic music festival. Perhaps his most well known contribution to the film was a segment involving him interviewing a middle-age man servicing the music festival’s portable toilets who had one son attending the festival and another son serving in Vietnam. Woodstock would win the Best Documentary award at the 1971 Academy Awards.

     Myers’ work on Woodstock lead him to shooting several other concert films in the 1970s including Mad Dogs & Englishmen (1971) with Joe Cocker and Leon Russell, Soul To Soul (1971) featuring Wilson Pickett and Ike and Tina Turner, Elvis On Tour (1972), Wattstax (1973) featuring Roberta Flack and Mavis Staples and The Grateful Dead Movie (1977). He worked with rock musician Neil Young twice; first on the 1979 concert film Rust Never Sleeps and the 1982 drama Neil Young: Human Highway. He also shot the non-musical documentaries Up From The Ape (1974) and The Mysterious Monsters (1975).

     In 1971, Myers shot his first non-documentary feature, George Lucas’ stark futuristic drama THX-1138. Myers continued his association with Lucas by serving as the cinematographer for the 1977 television “behind the scenes” special The Making Of Star Wars.

     Myers shot the rock music comedies FM (1978) and Roadie (1980). He also shot the films Welcome To L.A. (1976) for director Alan Rudolph and science-fiction/comedy UFOria for director John Binder. His last film was the 1985 drama Hard Traveling.