With no concerts to photograph, Dee Lippingwell keeps busy with the job of sifting through thousands of images for a third book she鈥檚 planning to publish.

At age 75, the 性视界传媒ite remains healthy and inspired enough to be out shooting concerts 鈥� that is, if COVID hadn鈥檛 cancelled them all.

Meantime, she鈥檚 pulling together photos for a 200-page 鈥渃offee table鈥� book chronicling the glory days of Merritt Mountain Music Festival, the popular country-music event in B.C.鈥檚 Interior.

鈥淔or 17 years we were the main photographers, my husband (Paul) and I, along with some others that we hired. Because it was so large, we couldn鈥檛 do it on our own,鈥� Lippingwell said. 鈥淭he last year was 2009, and I promised everybody that I鈥檇 get this country-music book out. We鈥檙e aiming for next Christmas.鈥�

Lippingwell remembers photographing Keith Urban there in 2002, 鈥渂efore anyone knew who he was.鈥� Other photos feature Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and more. 鈥淣azareth played the beer gardens and people like Jim Byrnes, too,鈥� she added. 鈥淛ust hundreds of artists played that event.鈥�

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PICTURED: Country musician Keith Urban on stage at Merritt Mountain Music Festival in 2002, in a photograph by 性视界传媒鈥檚 Dee Lippingwell.

Lippingwell鈥檚 1987 book, 鈥淭he Best Seat in the House,鈥� was followed in 2012 by the self-published 鈥淔irst Three Songs鈥� No Flash,鈥� a title that referenced the instructions typically given to concert photographers before a show begins.

Today, she says her 鈥減hoto world鈥� is probably busier now than in previous years, with work on some revisions to 鈥淔irst Three Songs鈥�No Flash!鈥� for a second printing, and some shoots for CD covers and promo photos.

Lippingwell has catalogued images of the 3,500 concerts she鈥檚 photographed since her very first, a Pink Floyd gig in Vancouver in 1973.

鈥淚 shot the Rollings Stones seven times, right, and all the times I shot Loverboy and Trooper and all the local bands, it鈥檚 thousands of concerts,鈥� Lippingwell noted. 鈥淚 have a storage locker and it鈥檚 full of filing cabinets, negatives and prints, all that. It鈥檚 all pretty much organized for when I die 鈥� it鈥檒l all be donated somewhere,鈥� she added with a laugh. 鈥淢aybe somebody will start a museum.鈥�

鈥� RELATED STORY, from 2013: Aiming for the stars: 性视界传媒 photographer launches new book of classic rock images.

Aerosmith, David Bowie, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Eric Clapton, KISS, Van Halen 鈥� she鈥檚 photographed them all over the past five decades, for publications around the world.

鈥淲hen I started, it was really difficult for me to get in because everybody thought I was a groupie,鈥� she once told this newspaper, back in 2012. 鈥淚 kept saying, 鈥楴o, I鈥檓 a mom and I want to do this for my career.鈥欌��

Early on, Sir Bob Geldof was an admirer of her work, but didn鈥檛 have a chance to hire her at Vancouver鈥檚 Georgia Straight before the then-editor/writer bolted back to England to pursue a career on concert stages. 鈥淲hen he came back with the Boomtown Rats to play the Commodore,鈥� she recalled, 鈥渉e saw me in the crowd and (mouthed), 鈥楢h, you got the job!鈥欌��

On the job, she鈥檚 been bruised and even suffered broken ribs. Overzealous fans of the Stones in Buffalo nearly prevented her from getting a decent shot of Mick Jagger in 1981. 鈥淚 turned around to face this belt buckle of a biker. He was a real angel because he lifted me on his shoulders to get that shot. Those were the fastest shots I ever got 鈥� I wanted down from there as soon as possible.鈥�

Bryan Adams is one of the most difficult stars to shoot on stage, she related in an earlier interview. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 like having his picture taken, I guess. We always have to be at the side of the stage, not the front鈥�. We get that one song and that鈥檚 it. It鈥檚 tough with him.鈥�

, Lippingwell has made a weekly habit of posting concert photos from years gone by. She also has a website () that showcases some 鈥渕erch鈥� and images, including some from the festival in Merritt. There, she focused on the stage and the stars, while her husband was given other duties.

鈥淧aul wasn鈥檛 a photographer, but in the early days it was just me and him there,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淚 stuck a camera in his hand, an automatic, and got him to go around the site taking photos of the campers, the people who were the festival and all the stuff that went on there, and some of his photos were better than mine.鈥�

While Lippingwell admits, with a laugh, that her bedtime is a lot earlier than it was years ago, she keeps active and feels good for a septuagenarian.

鈥淚鈥檓 75 years young,鈥� she boasted. 鈥淚鈥檓 good, I go to the gym, I bowl when the leagues are back on. Sometimes my husband and I go bowling now on our own, so we stay active. But this book, it鈥檚 a pretty massive job I鈥檝e been doing, so that鈥檚 taking up a lot of my time. Some of it鈥檚 film and some of it鈥檚 digital, so going through all that is a job. There aren鈥檛 enough hours in the day or days in the week, never is.鈥�

tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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