Life Through The Lens of Linda McCartney

Life Through The Lens of Linda McCartney

Linda McCartney (née Eastman) was born in New York in 1941. She took a photo course with 

Hazel Archer and studied art history at the University of Arizona before settling in New York City, 

where she began her photo career shooting rock portraits. Outside of her photography, 

Linda McCartney is known for her passionate animal rights activism and her staunch 

vegetarianism. She wrote cookbooks and founded her own brand of frozen vegetarian meals, 

all the while raising a family, continuing to take photographs, and participating as a Wings band 

member alongside Paul McCartney. She died in 1998 at the age of 56.

In 1966, during a brief stint as a receptionist for Town and Country magazine, Linda Eastman 

snagged a press pass to a very exclusive promotional event for the Rolling Stones aboard a yacht

on the Hudson River; her fresh, candid photographs of the band were far superior to the formal 

shots made by the band’s official photographer, and she was instantly on the way to making a name

for herself as a top rock ’n’ roll photographer.

On May 11, 1968, when her portrait of Eric Clapton was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, 

she entered the record books as the first woman to have that honor. During her tenure as the 

leading photographer of the late 1960s’ musical scene, she captured many of rock’s most important 

musicians on film, including Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Simon & Garfunkel,

The Who, The Doors, and the Grateful Dead. In 1967, Linda went to London to document the 

"Swinging Sixties," where she met Paul McCartney at the Bag ’o Nails club and subsequently 

photographed the Beatles during a launch event for the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

Paul and Linda fell in love, and were married on March 12, 1969. For the next three decades, until her

untimely death, she devoted herself to her family, vegetarianism, animal rights, and photography.

From her early rock ’n’ roll portraits, through the final years of the Beatles, via touring with Wings to 

raising four children with Paul, Linda captured her whole world on film. Her shots range from 

spontaneous family pictures to studio sessions with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, as well 

as artists Willem de Kooning and Gilbert and George. Always unassuming and fresh, her work 

displays a warmth and feeling for the precise moment that captures the essence of any subject. 

Whether photographing her children, celebrities, animals, or a fleeting moment of everyday life, she

did so without pretension or artifice.

Jimi Hendrix

Stallion, Scotland, 1993

Paul and Martha, Londres, 1968

Paul McCartney, John Lennon

Spencer Dryden and Grace Slick, Twiggy

Paul McCartney with his daughters Heather and Mary

Pete Townshend and unknown

Paul McCartney

Twiggy

Paul's feet

Paul and Heather in the flowers, 1970

Paul with his daughter Mary

Heather, Mary and Paul McCartney

Brian Jones and Mick Jagger in New York in 1966

Stella McCartney

Janis Joplin

Paul McCartney and John Lennon

The Grateful Dead

Paul, Stella and James, Scotland, 1982

The Beatles, London, 1968

Jimi Hendrix Experience in London, 1967

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney with his stepdaughter Heather

Paul McCartney

Janis Joplin, Yoko Ono

Ray Charles, Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix

Paul McCartney with his daughter Heather

Heather and Mary(left), Paul and Mary (right)

Paul McCartney with John Lennon

Paul McCartney

Paul, Heather and Mary McCartney

Paul with his daughter Mary

Johnny Depp with Kate Moss

Stella McCartney, Montserrat, 1981

Linda McCartney with her husband Paul and daughters Heather and Mary by Alain DeJean

Heather, Stella, and Paul

(via Taschen)

Behind The Scenes of The Iconic Abbey Road Cover Photo shoot

Behind The Scenes of The Iconic Abbey Road Cover Photo shoot

Abbey Road is the 11th studio album released by the English rock band the Beatles. It is their last

recorded album, although Let It Be was the last album released before the band's dissolution in 

1970. The album was released amid tensions within the band. Although it was a commercial
success, it received mixed reviews from music critics who found its music inauthentic and criticized
the  production's artificial effects. Since its initial reception, the album has been viewed by many 
critics as the Beatles' greatest work and is ranked by several publications as one of the greatest 
albums of all time. Abbey Road remains their best-selling album.

Abbey Road album artwork

The front cover design, a photograph of the group traversing a zebra crossing, was based
on sketched ideas by McCartney.

On 8 August 1969 outside EMI Studios on Abbey Road. At around 11:30 that morning, freelance 

photographer Iain Macmillan, who was a friend to John Lennon and Yoko Ono, was given only ten 

minutes to take the photo whilst he stood on a step-ladder and a policeman held up the traffic. Using

 a Hasselblad camera with a 50mm wide-angle lens, aperture f22, at 1/500 seconds, he took six 

shots as the group walked across the zebra crossing just outside the studio.

Abbey Road, taken on the morning of The Beatles' album cover shoot, 8 August 1969

The Beatles crossed the road a number of times while Macmillan photographed them. 8 August was

 a hot day in north London, and for four of the six photographs McCartney walked barefoot; for the 

other two he wore sandals. Shortly after the shoot, McCartney studied the transparencies and chose

 the fifth one for the album cover.

Picture one from the Abbey Road photography session

Picture two from the Abbey Road photography session

Picture three from the Abbey Road photography session

Picture four from the Abbey Road photography session

Picture six from the Abbey Road photography session

After the road-crossing photo was finished, Iain Macmillan set off to find a good "Abbey Road" street

marker sign to use for the back cover of the album. He found it at the junction of Alexandra Road and

started taking photos of the sign. Much to his chagrin, while he was busy shooting an oblivious 

woman in a blue dress walked right in front of his viewfinder. While reviewing his shots later that day,

however, he decided that the "blue dress" photo was the most interesting of the bunch, and he ended

up using it in the final composition.

The other photos that exist were taken by Linda McCartney. Here are some of the alternate out-take

photos taken that day before and during the photo shoot…

 

Here’s some photos of The Beatles sitting on the steps of EMI Abbey Road Studios waiting for the 

photo session to start...

Here’s a few more of the boys waiting to cross the street.

This unseen photo below taken by Linda McCartney of Paul & Ringo from the Abbey Road photo sesssion was just
released by Paul McCartney.com on May 10, 2012.

According to Wikipedia, in the scene, the group walk across the street in single file from left to right, with Lennon leading, followed by Starr, McCartney, and Harrison. McCartney is barefoot. With the exception

of Harrison, the group are wearing suits designed by Tommy Nutter. To the left of the picture, parked 

next to the zebra crossing, is a white Volkswagen Beetle motor-car which belonged to one of the people

living in the block of flats across from the recording studio. After the album was released, the number

plate (LMW 281F) was stolen repeatedly from the car. In 1986, the car was sold at auction for £2,530

and in 2001 was on display in a museum in Germany. The man standing on the pavement to the right

of the picture is Paul Cole (c. 1911 – 13 February 2008), an American tourist unaware he had been photographed until he saw the album cover months later.

Damian Riehl // Film Photography

Just went over and checked out Damian Riehl’s site. So. GNARLY!! Big inspiration to grow as a film photography. Above are the top 3 photos that I’m in love with.

Why do I dive deep into Damian’s work?

“I am self taught, choosing to cut my teeth with fully mechanical film photography. That and my longtime job as a bicycle messenger have been perfect as the vehicles to get me to where I am. I started out shooting for myself, but I have grown to love sharing what I do with others. My style as I see it is obvious and to the point, born from my photographic interests in architecture(order, form, balance, harmony, and cleanliness bordering on standardized perfection) and skateboarding(raw, free flowing and a bit more individualistic, yet very under control). One part documentary and one part artistic expression, often at the same time, and without overpowering the subject, but adding to its presentation. I feel a respect to whatever I shoot and always hope to portray it in the most palatable manner possible.”

That’s why…

Go get Riehl!! Happy Friday. Take advantage of your day. Cheers!

Film photography captures more heart

BY ARMAN AHMAD

THE first thing that you will realise when working with film is how much hard work is involved. That was the first lesson I learnt at a photography studio gallery, housed in an old bungalow in Petaling Jaya.

Upon arriving at The Print Room, I was given an old Nikon 4e and a roll of 35mm film to work with. I was instructed to shoot off 36 frames in black and white.

The assignment was to find interesting textures, and I set about the bungalow’s compound looking for objects to photograph. I soon realised how hard it was to finish just 36 shots. While I often shoot hundreds of shots on outings with my DLSR, the knowledge that you have a limited number of shots makes you more mindful with each one. More care is taken into framing the shot, ensuring the focus and exposure is perfect, before hitting the shutter.

I actually started taking pictures with film SLRs, a Canon EOS 88. For today, however, I take most of my pictures with a Canon DSLR.

Over the years, as SD cards have become much cheaper, I’ve developed a habit of shooting off numerous shots for each setting. A typical 16GB memory card can hold up to 2,000 shots, depending on resolution and it retails at just RM30.

On the flip side, I realised the shots were taken carelessly. At the end of the day, you end up with thousands of pictures which are difficult to catalogue and archive. Most of them are never printed and are kept hidden in hard drives. Film makes you think more about each shot. There isn't much quantity, but that means there is a lot more quality.

This is precisely what Paul Gadd, owner and curator of The Print Room, a photographer who has worked for 16 years taking photos for Marie Claire, Harpers Bazaar, The International Herald Tribune, wants people to do when they take pictures.

“There is more that can be obtained from film,” said Gadd, “You have more control over it.”

"We passionately believe that only with a foundation in classical photography techniques can a photographer begin to approach photography as a fine art. Our specific emphasis and pride is to offer students an opportunity to learn to handle a traditional manual film camera, to process film and to print photographs the classical way," said Gadd.

After the photos have been shot around the bungalow, the negatives are removed from the camera. A tool known as a film picker is used. The picker has a sliver on one end that slips into the film roll.

Once in, you manipulate two sliders to get the leading edge of the film out. It is much more complicated than removing your SD card from your digital camera.

The following step required even more dexterity. I practiced sliding a roll of developed film onto a plastic reel.

I had to slide the entire roll of film onto the reel by slowly turning it a little by little. Once that was done, the reel had to be placed into a developing tank. “Ok. You have to do that in total darkness, in the dark room,” Gadd said.

At this point, I doubted whether I would be able to process my own roll of film but somehow, I managed to pull the film out, cut it and slid it onto the reel on the first try, in the total darkness of the darkroom. After nearly dropping the developing tank, I also managed to place the reel in the tank.

What followed was akin to a medieval alchemy session. Gadd prepared three types of solutions which had to be poured into the tank one by one : the developer, stop bath and fixer. The developer had to be at precisely 20°C before being poured in. This involved mixing cold water from a cooler with warm tap water. By this time, I was amazed by the level of effort needed to develop just a few photos.

After all these steps, and waiting a few minutes, the film was finally developed. I pulled the film out of the reel and let it dry overnight in a cabinet. The following day, there were images visible on the film. Gadd brought them to a light box, and I could see clearly that the negatives were well developed.

I spent the entire day transferring those images from the film onto photographic paper using a projector.

The photographic paper was soaked in another three solutions before images finally appeared on them.

As I held the photographs out in the sun in the compound of the bungalow, I couldn’t help but feel a great deal of satisfaction even though my images were mediocre at best.

Photography was invented in 1826 or 1827 by Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce. Since then, it has revolutionised human existence — crucial events and people in human history have been recorded and immortalised on photos. Over the last century, it is estimated that nearly four trillion photographs have been taken, recording every aspect of human life. Digital technology has changed photography extraordinarily. Nearly 10 per cent of the photos in existence last year were taken in digital.

Indeed, digital cameras have made huge leaps and bounds in the last few years. A film camera, while romantic now, appears hopelessly outdated. However, in much the same way that portrait painting did not stop after the camera itself was invented, film photography will continue to be pursued by artists for a variety of reasons.

Looking at the black and white images, I found it amazing how a combination of light and chemicals could capture what our own eyes could see. It felt like magic.

Street Photography from a Camera’s Point of View

• by Michael Zhang

Street photographer Eric Kim wanted to capture what it’s like to roam around on the
streets and shoot photographs of complete strangers (without their permission), so
he mounted a GoPro HD 960 video camera to the top of his Leica M9 and then
walked the streets of LA. You can see some of the resulting photos over on Kim’s blog.