1941 - Born May 17th in Trenton, New Jersey, the second child of Felix and Elizabeth McGuire.
1953 - Discovered Hank Snow and country music while delivering beer to my scout leaders at summer camp...haven't been the same since.
1956 - Began building my first hot rod in our barn. My impressive mechanical abilities would eventually lead to tragedy. (see 1959 - 1961)
1958 - Finally got my drivers license and drove my car on the street for the first time. Didn't kill anything.
1959 - Graduated from Pennington Central High School. Should have been voted Most Likely to Hate Getting a Mechanical Engineering Degree.
1959 - 1961 - Dad is impressed by my abilities fixing automobiles and lovingly forces me to go to Trenton Junior College to get a mechanical engineering degree.
1961 - Enlist in the United States Air Force, eagerly looking for an adventure.
1964 - Given a choice of going to Vietnam or spending another year in a mid-west city...went to Vietnam and found an adventure.
1964 - 1965 - Photographed Vietnamese countryside from the air....prints were used to plan South Vietnamese Army operations...had my own little record of the early part of the war in the Mekong.
1965 - Much to my surprise, the Air Force awards me an honorable discharge and, also to my surprise, the military allows me to keep all the film I shot.
1966 - Commuted daily to New York to attend photo technical school after reading an advertisement that appeared to be a scam of sorts.
1967 - Moved to New York and began working as an assistant to fashion photographer John Foote. Learned valuable photography lessons including: "Always keep one camera back empty for the first 3 rolls of film you shoot...nothing ever worth a damn shows up on the first 3 rolls."
1968 - Began working for TWA airlines as staff photographer in New York City. Learned valuable photography lessons including: "Never work for anyone ever again."
1969 - Opened my own studio in a small loft in Gramercy Park. Began shooting magazine assignments, advertisements, and my first album cover, Sea Train's classic, "Marblehead Messenger".
1970 - Began freelance writing a music column "Riffs" for the "Village Voice."
1972 - Shot my first "Nashville Portrait" of John Hartford after one of his shows in the Village. Later this year, moved to Nashville after making instant friends at a urinal with Music producer Travis Rivers. Began shooting album covers for the Music industry while sleeping on the floor of Travis' office / home.
1974 - Began photographing the final days of the Ryman before it was scheduled to move to Opryland. Shot every show the last year the Ryman was downtown including the "End of an Era" Ryman lightning shot.
1974 - Opened a studio on Wyoming Avenue in an old neighborhood grocery store. Shot hundreds of album covers and Nashville Portraits and managed to keep the same rent ($125 a month) for 13 years...thank you Clara Lampley...I will always remember you.
1975 - 25 Ryman images are published in Jack Hurst's book on the history of the Opry. Immediately signed the check over to buy my dream car...still have it and drive it almost everyday.
1981 - First one man of show of "Nashville Portraits" at the Cheekwood Museum of Art.
1989 - Bought a warehouse on 8th Avenue and moved downtown baby!
1998 - One man show of "Nashville Portraits" at "Finer Things Gallery", Nashville. Music by Kayton Roberts steals show.
1999 - 25 of my "Nashville Portraits" and dog photos are displayed at the Nashville International Airport. It took place in the prestigious Terminal "B."
2001 - I continue to shoot "Nashville Portraits," I turned the big "6 - 0" and I am diligently trying to find time away from the horsetrack to finish this website.
2002 - I am working on my first book of photographs. It seems like I spend all of my time these days writing and organizing photos. My friends hardly ever see me anymore. They all say tell me that they have never seen a harder working and more dedicated man in their whole lives.
2003 - I have had 2 dramatic realizations.
#1 - I must finish writing my book so that I can retire on a remote beach in Mexico with my dog, while occasionally jetting over to Ireland for a few months out of the year to hang out with John Prine.
#2 - I must put my mind to beating the odds at the race track so that I can afford to add a knock-out young lass to scenario #1.
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images which appear on this website have been digitally watermarked.
Copyright © 1972-2001 by Jim McGuire.
To inquire about publication, please contact us at 615-244-1947
or email mcguire@nashvilleportraits.com
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