ROCK ’N’ ROLL PHOTOGRAPHY
WHO SHOT THOSE ICONIC IMAGES,
Behind every iconic image of rock ’n’ roll is a photographer who captured that electrifying moment for history to cherish.
Who Shot Rock & Roll spotlights the visionaries who documented music’s most compelling scenes, from a tender moment shared by John Lennon and Yoko Ono to the raw energy of The Ramones onstage at CBGB. The exhibit and companion documentary film are at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles through Oct. 7.
Who Shot Rock brings together the work of more than 100 photographers, featuring artists who rose to rock fame (Annie Leibovitz, Linda McCartney, Diane Arbus) alongside those whose names aren’t as familiar as the indelible images they’ve contributed.
“Very often, when there’s a story in a magazine, the writer’s name is big, but the photographer’s name is in the tiniest type you can find, down in the corner,” says Bob Gruen, who was John Lennon’s personal photographer in the 1970s and is featured in the show. “It took a while for people to realize that it takes composition and timing to capture feeling in a photo, and that’s what makes it art. This exhibit is the first one to really focus on rock ’n’ roll photography as an art form.”
More than 150 photographs of stars current and past are included, with entire sections devoted to Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. Though the exhibit’s title suggests otherwise, Who Shot Rock also brings pop and hip-hop to life, including Max Vadukul’s intimate photo of Amy Winehouse lounging in bed on her wedding day and Danny Clinch’s portrait of a shirtless Tupac Shakur that served as Rolling Stone’s memorial of his death.
“Rock ’n’ roll is a revolution, but it’s a bipartite revolution,” says guest curator Gail Buckland, who wrote a 2009 book of the same name that serves as source material for the exhibit. “It’s sound and image. The music couldn’t create the phenomenon on its own. It needed pictures. All revolutions need to be documented to be believed.”
Photography is as essential to rock as the actual music, Gruen says.
“Rock ’n’ roll is all about a haircut and an attitude,” he says. “People remember the music, but they also remember the image.”
Jimmy Page (1975)
In 1975, Led Zeppelin was at the peak of its popularity as one of the world’s most beloved rock bands, and Bob Gruen snapped this shot of guitarist Page at a gig in New York City. He found Led Zeppelin, however, to be one of his tougher subjects. “In those days, the band was more interested in girls, so they didn’t really talk to me very much,” Gruen says. “It was difficult to shoot them because they worked in a lot of dark colors, dark blues and greens. But this was a clear shot, and I really liked it.”
“Rock ’n’ roll is a revolution, but it’s a bipartite revolution. . . . All revolutions need to be documented to be believed.”
Guest curator Gail Buckland
Wilson Pickett (1966)
This photo of Pickett performing at an Atlantic Records release party at Harlem’s Prelude Club, shot by William “PoPsie” Randolph, also displays a young Jimi Hendrix in his brief stint playing guitar in Pickett’s backing band. “Who would have thought Jimi Hendrix would be in a tuxedo playing backup?” Buckland says. “(He) didn’t last long in the back, and by the next year he was dressed the way we know him.”
Amy Winehouse (2007)
In a uniquely intimate image of one of rock’s most troubled souls, photographer Max Vadukul took this shot of Winehouse on May 18, 2007, the day she married Blake Fielder-Civil. “This photograph of her in bed on her wedding day with her hand tucked down her pants is so emblematic of the dilemma of anyone who reaches fame,” says Who Shot Rock & Roll guest curator Gail Buckland, author of the book of the same title, upon which the exhibit is based. “The tension in that picture between her privacy and her public persona is very expressive.”
Linda Eastman (1968)
A trailblazing female photographer (and future wife of Paul McCartney), Eastman experienced a unique camaraderie with the stars she shot. “Linda was really friends with these musicians,” Buckland says. “Nobody had money, they were all starting out. And they really respected Linda. She’s photographing her friends, and (in this shot, Eric Clapton) is photographing her back.”