LIFE PHOTOGRAPHER JOHN DOMINIS' PHOTOGRAPHS OF WOODSTOCK

August 12, 2009 | Source: Monroe Gallery of Photography

Image #1 for LIFE PHOTOGRAPHER JOHN DOMINIS' PHOTOGRAPHS OF WOODSTOCK

Life.com has just posted an on-line slide show of Woodstock photographs by John Dominis.

For a few days in August, 1969, on a dairy farm in upstate New York, a half-million young people got together to hang out, dance, and listen to music. Forty years later, for many people, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair is the defining event of the Sixties. For LIFE photographer John Dominis, covering the festival became one of the most moving adventures of an amazing 25-year career. "I was much more interested in the people who were there than the musicians," he tells LIFE.com. "I liked the music okay, but I really liked the kids, and what they were doing, and how they felt about it all. I just wanted to capture that." Here, Dominis' favorite photographs from Woodstock.

"We didn't know that it was going to be a huge event," Dominis remembers, "but I did take with me a wide angle camera for shooting big crowds, just in case. I put that in my kit, and of course I had the chance to use that camera a bit over the course of the three days I was there." To purchase a signed print of this photograph, or other classic John Dominis images, visit the Monroe Gallery of Photography online.

Another renowned LIFE photographer, Bill Eppridge was also at Woodstock. His photographs were recently featured in the New York Times.