In 2014, Abby Hill was in the midst of one heck of an organizational undertaking. During what little free time she had from her full-time job as a horse trainer and farrier, the daughter of the late Mill Valley photographer Suki Hill was holed up in her mom’s Edgewood Ave. home pouring through “hundreds of thousands” of Suki’s photos, cataloging and digitizing.
The archive spans from Suki Hill’s European travels in her early 20s, through her front row seat for the peak of the explosion of the San Francisco music scene in the late 1960s and all the way to the weeks and months prior to her passing, when she did a series of heartfelt photo essays on the workers who are the backbone of Mill Valley (at right).
Abby Hill’s goal, quite simply, was to preserve the photographic legacy of her mom, widely known as the photographer laureate of Mill Valley, who died 2014 at the age of 72. One of the first steps for Abby Hill was “Suki Hill: Vintage Black and White Photography of the 1960s” which debuted at the Mill Valley Community Center under the auspices of the Mill Valley Arts Commission.
Now comes word that Abby Hill will be showcasing Suki Hill’s rock ‘n’ roll photography of the late 60’s starting Tuesday, Nov. 5th from 5:30-7:30pm (which is also Election Day) at the venerable Throckmorton Theatre.
“Come unwind with a chill walk through Mill Valley for the first Tuesday Artwalk, and swing by the Throckmorton Theatre,” says Abigail. “Suki’s photography has not been shown in 10 years and I am thrilled that The Throckmorton and Lucy Mercer has asked to host. Please come down and check out your town and all the beautiful artists and their artwork.
Abby Hill says that while her mom’s photos of Mill Valleyans (at right) are well known locally and her classic rock photos are hugely popular, she specifically chose work that has never been seen by the public.
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hill moved to Mill Valley in 1965 after earning a Masters Degree in Philosophy from the University of California.
In 2011, Hill inked a deal with Wolfgang’s Vault to sell her classic shots of the likes of the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin.
A 2007 recipient of a Milley Award, Hill made a name for herself in the 1960s and 1970s as one of the pre-eminent photographers of the thriving Bay Area music scene, snapping classic shots of the likes of Crosby, Stills & Nash, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan.
“Abby Hill certainly has her work cut out for her in cataloging and digitizing her prolific mom’s photo collection. Of the hundreds of thousands of photos taken by Hill over the years, only a few thousand have been digitized to date, Abby Hill says.
Suki Hill published “in 2007 “Mill Valley: Then & Now,” which contrasted early images throughout Mill Valley with her own modern photos of the same places.
In 2011, she created the “Mill Valley at Work” exhibit that featured workers at places like the Mill Valley Market, whose employees Hill said were “like family to me.”