“People don’t understand the kind of fight it takes to record what you want to record the way you want to record it”
~ Billie Holiday
“I was merely a living witness. What does any good journalist do? Record what’s going on, observe the artist and their expressions, then leap in. You’ve got to react to something that’s happening or anticipate that it’s about to happen.”
~ Don Hunstein
Billie was recording one of her great Columbia albums “Lady in Satin” at the 30th Street NY Columbia Recording Studio where many of the seminal albums of the 20th Century were recorded. Her life was always tempestuous full of betrayal and loss, the recipient of racial injustice and plagued with health issues and addiction and police intimidation throughout her life. Apart from his great technical skill, Don was a kind man who always created an atmosphere where the artist whoever they were and what they were going through on a personal level felt relaxed and open. Don realized this was a key ingredient and this resulted in one of the great photos of Billie ever taken.
