Ray Charles - Convention Hall, Atlantic City, N.J. - 1980: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This image depicts musician Ray Charles playing the piano. Wearing a light colored tuxedo with a lighter stripe down the pant leg, a black bow tie, and sunglasses, he sits on a piano bench with a microphone in front of him. His arms are raised to play, but his hands and the majority of the piano is in shadow. Light falls primarily on his face and upper torso, while the rest of the image is in shadow. His face is angled upward and turned slightly towards the microphone.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1980
• Photograph by: Robert Houston, American, 1935 - 2021
• Subject of: Ray Charles, American, 1930 - 2004
• Type: portraits
• Type: digital images
• Type: digital media - born analog
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: H x W: 16644 pixels × 12142 pixels, 385.47 MB
• Place depicted: Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Topic: Soul (Music)
• Object number: 2014.116.20
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert and Greta Houston
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Robert Houston Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.