By Cathy Heard, Web Developer and Graphic Designer for WXPN.
Bruce Warren is on vacation and will resume the Daily Dose Monday, August 13th.

Rock Photography

The Ramones by Roberta Bayley

Some talents invaluable to the photographic process are obvious. Mad camera skills. Understanding lighting, film stocks, lenses and now computers. In the studio or on location, a mastery of creative staging. Or being in the right place at the right time to capture one transcendental moment. Good instincts. Risk taking. Keen observation.

But ultimately the biggest asset is an affinity for people. Particularly in documenting music history, the greatest work has resulted from the photographer forming a bond, no matter how brief, with the subject. “Getting” a performer’s music. Communicating to the world at large what the kids already understand. Gaining the trust of enigmatic icons or entry to an insular scene. Spotting and sharing the source of an artist’s greatness. Predicting the future.

Studying my favorite rock photographs can feel like spending an afternoon with the coolest best friend ever - one who also happens to be a rock legend. Some of these images transport me to shows I’m decades too young to have attended. Some are entirely artifice and, as a result, are mysteries that will always remain unsolved. Other times they are redolent of wild nights my most debauched early 20s hijinks couldn’t remotely compare to. (Even using the word “hijinks” implies I could never hang with Iggy. Maybe The Osmonds though.) Some of the most revealing shots hint at or blatantly announce glamorous and wasteful self-destructiveness – totally alluring in rock heroes.

The best photos capture how great artists are kind of like us - just hopelessly cool versions of us.

And the photographers themselves? Rock stars in their own right. Grand adventurers I’d give anything to trade places with.

Some Favorites:

The Heartbreakers by Roberta Bayley

Roberta Bayley - Artist behind the cover of the first Ramones album and The Heartbreakers cover of Please Kill Me.
Blondie: Unseen 1976-1980
Blank Generations Revisited: The Early Days of Punk Rock

Chet Baker and girlfriend by William Claxton

William Claxton - Lensman responsible for amazing jazz work, particularly shots of a young, dynamic and beautiful Chet Baker, at the time, full of potential.
Photographic Memory
Young Chet: The Young Chet Baker

Martha Cooper - One of many brilliant documentarians of the early hip-hop scene.
Hip Hop Files: Photographs, 1979-1984

Anton Corbjn - More famous for music videos and films, he has shot and designed covers for U2 and Depeche Mode, among others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Corbijn
Famouz: Anton Corbijn Photographs 1975-88

Henry Diltz - One of the 60s greats.

Peter Ellenby - Current indie rock
Every Day Is Saturday: The Rock Photography of Peter Ellenby

Lee Friedlander - Better known as a street photographer, he has taken some remarkable shots of musicians.
Lee Friedlander: American Musicians

Lynn Goldsmith - A mainstay of rock photography through the present.
Rock and Roll

John Lennon and son Sean, by Bob Gruen

Bob Gruen - Famous for John Lennon in New York and The Clash.
The Clash
John Lennon: The New York Years

by Jim Jocoy

Jim Jocoy - Fantastic portraits of the LA punk scene.
We’re Desperate: The Punk Rock Photography of Jim Jocoy

Cover of Sonic Youth’s Evol, Richard Kern

Richard Kern - Filmmaker/photographer whose dark and perverse work is intertwined with Sonic Youth and Lydia Lunch. Shot the “Death Valley ‘69″ video.
Kern Noir: Photographs by Richard Kern

Astrid Kircherr - German photographer who befriended The Beatles in their early days.

Bob Dylan, Nashville Skyline by Elliott Landy

Elliott Landy - Another 60s lensman. Worked a great deal with Bob Dylan.

Michael Lavine - Grunge and 90s hip-hop to present.
Noise from the Underground: A Secret History of Alternative Rock

John and Yoko on the cover of Rolling Stone, Annie Leibowitz

Annie Leibowitz - The rock photographer everyone knows. As predictable as including her is, it’s hard to get more iconic than John and Yoko on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Annie Leibovitz: American Music

The Stones by Gered Mankowitz

Gered Mankowitz - Early Stones and British Invasion acts

Robert Mapplethorpe - Another one most people know. Primarily a controversial fine art photographer who shot portraits of Patti Smith, Debbie Harry and other NYC punks.

Johnny Cash by Jim Marshall

Jim Marshall - Eclectic subjects. Shot my single favorite Johnny Cash photo.
Jim Marshall: Proof
Not Fade Away: The Rock & Roll Photography of Jim Marshall

Paul McCartney, shot by Linda McCartney

Linda McCartney - How do you think Linda got to meet Paul?
Linda McCartney’s Sixties: Portrait of an Era

Bowie, promo shot for Diamond Dogs, by Terry O’Neill

Terry O’Neill - Very 70s and 80s. Took one of the most inspired and evocative shots of Bowie in his heyday.
Celebrity: The Photographs of Terry O’Neill

Syd Barrett, by Mick Rock

Iggy Pop by Mick Rock

Motley Crue by Mick Rock

Mick Rock - Iggy (Raw Power cover), Queen, Bowie, Lou Reed, The Ramones, Joan Jett, Motley Crue and many, many more. He shot ‘em all.
PUNK DRUNK LOVE: The Images of Mick Rock
Classic Queen
Glam! an Eyewitness Account
Raw Power: Iggy & the Stooges, 1972

Jamel Shabazz - Sassy and poignant nostalgia for the crossroads between disco and hip-hop.
A Time Before Crack

Bruce Weber - Known more for his fashion photography, particularly for Calvin Klein, Weber parlayed photography into directing one of the bleakest documentaries ever - the pathetic and tragic final days of Chet Baker in Let’s Get Lost.
Let’s Get Lost

Francis Wolff - Responsible for much of the classic Blue Note catalog.
Blue Note: Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff

Neil Zlozower - Straight up rawk. Refered to his fantastic Van Halen shots as being from his “quaalude” era.

General
The London Independent – 10 Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Photos
The Jazz Image: Masters of Jazz Photography
Cult Rock Posters: Ten Years of Classic Posters from the Punk, New Wave, and Glam Era

Movies:
Blow Up - The ode to the Swingin’ 60s and photographer as rock star.
Backbeat - Mediocre movie that dramatizes The Beatles’ days in Germany and Stuart Sutcliffe’s love affair with Astrid Kirchherr.

Blow Up Trailer

The Yardbirds in Blow Up

Photoshoot with Veruschka from Blow Up

Another photoshoot from Blow Up