Remembering the King of Rock Photography

Last week Jim Marshall, one of the most famous rock photographers of all time passed away at the age of 74. You may not recognize the name but I promise you that you know the images. You know the photo of Jimi Hendrix on fire? That image is so well known that Rolling Stone recreated it last month with Shaun White and a snowboard. Well that was Jim Marshall. He died in New York where he was planning on promoting a new book and had a speaking engagement at a gallery in SoHo. While the death is unknown, it does seem that it was unexpected.

Since only really my parents, Jenny and Becca ready this blog, it should come as no surprise that photography is another hobby of mine. I am obviously not as deeply in love with it as I am with music, but I am much better at it. When I heard that Annie Leibowitz went on tour as the official photographer for the Rolling Stones in 1975, I realized that these two loves could be combined, and that one could be entrenched in the music industry without the ability to play a musical instrument. Jim Marshall seems to have been the most respected of all the photographers in this industry. He was the only photographer allowed at the Beatles last concert in 1966 and he was the chief photographer at Woodstock.

What I love about photography as an art form is that in captures art that is seen in everyday life. For that moment in time something is happening that will never happen again in that way, and a photograph captures that beauty and energy. In terms of music, and both fashion photography, this can be lost when the focus is a celebrity. Just like all of us and maybe even more so, the subject is focused on their image, how they appear. It can be hard to break through that and get a genuine feeling. The reason Leibowitz and Marshall were so successful were that they could make these rock gods feel like rock gods they were and people at the same time. Also, I imagine sports photography has the same problem, but these people are active, and it is impossible to get someone to “pose” for a shot. It makes the photos that much more dynamic and that more difficult to get. Finally, I try to take photos at concerts whenever I go, but I always get distracted by the music and what is going on onstage. One has to have the discipline to keep shooting, because you never know when you’re going to get that perfect shot. Marshall always seemed to get that perfect shot.

RIP Jim Marshall.