As one of the leading rock photographers of the 1960s, Linda McCartney made a career out of capturing the softer side of music’s most famous rebels. Yet it’s only now that we’re finally getting a look at the photographer herself.
McCartney, who passed away from breast cancer nearly 14 years ago, is the subject of a new book called ‘Life in Photographs’ that chronicles her career behind the camera. Drawing from her extensive archive of over 200,000 images, the collection was compiled by Annie Leibovitz and Alison Castle in collaboration with her husband, Paul McCartney.
A musician and an outspoken animal rights activist, McCartney is best known for her her photographs of artists like Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, The Doors and Janis Joplin. She shot album covers for Neil Young, as well as the cover of Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson’s duet single, “The Girl is Mine.”
Her photo of Eric Clapton became the cover of Rolling Stone in May, 1968, making her the first woman to ever have her photograph on the cover of the iconic music magazine. Not only that, but McCartney would herself appear on the cover of an issue in 1974, making her the only person to ever have a photograph they’ve taken AND a photograph they appear in on the cover of Rolling Stone.
After a chance meeting with Beatles guitarist Paul McCartney at a club in London in 1968, she was hired to shoot the launch party for The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.’ Within two years the pair was married.
Sadly, McCartney died in 1998 after a three-year battle with breast cancer. Her new book, ‘Linda McCartney: Life In Photographs,’ is due to be released on April 20th.
View Comments (0)