Picture Perfect: Behind the Lens of Iconic Country Music Photos
Photographers featured in a special Los Angeles exhibit talk about their star subjects, from Dolly Parton to Keith Urban

Elmer Williams
With some posed and others serendipitously candid, the 110 photos at the Annenberg Space for Photography's new exhibit, Country: Portraits of an American Sound, help tell the story of country music's past 80 years. The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, runs through September 28th at the Los Angeles gallery and features artists from Hank Thompson and June Carter Cash to Keith Urban and Kacey Musgraves. The photos themselves range from album cover shoots to historic moments caught on camera, including the very moment Loretta Lynn found out she was being invited to join the Grand Ole Opry. Here, Rolling Stone Country previews several rare photos from the exhibit, accompanied by exclusive commentary from each photographer about their subjects.