Right Place, Right Time: The Life of a Rock & Roll Photographer

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For many years, people have been saying, “You should write a book.” People are really interested in the ’70s. People are always asking me, “How did you do it?” None of my colleagues had the breadth of starting out with groups like Ike and Tina Turner and LaBelle and continuing going right into Elton John and John Lennon and Led Zeppelin but also coming to KISS and Alice Cooper. I did studio, live, record parties, nightclubs, everywhere. I didn’t visit the music scene as a journalist; I was part of it. I went to CBGB to see friends and take pictures. One of the major milestones in your career is your connection to punk. You were probably one of the first people to witness the early punk scene in New York and England, and your photos are definitely some of the most important documents of that period. I want to ask about a bunch of artists you were connected to, but the New York Dolls seem like a great starting place.

Since this covers a multitude of musicians, bands, and styles of music, the music / bands / musicians covered may – or may not – all appeal to every reader, but this is more about Gruen, and how he went from a young kid with an interest in photography to accompanying and / or photographing virtually every musician of note at one point in his career. Some of the photographs are ones I’d love a copy to put on my walls for the beauty of the photography, alone. His stories are epic, if sometimes crazily so, others heartbreaking, and his photographs always iconic. So the CBGB’s bands were experimenting, they were practicing, they were learning how to be good. And most clubs don’t let you learn. Most clubs want you to bring a crowd right from the beginning. But CBGB, this was a place where people could come in and learn how to play in front of an audience, learn what works and what doesn’t. And I remember that night with Blondie, I thought, “Wow, this is all coming together. Since 1980, Morrison Hotel Gallery has been the primary representative for Gruen's photography. His work is included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. [9] So how would you do things, say for example, Green Day, you’re going to do this shoot, and work with them. What would be different today, aside from not having to stay awake for seven days straight? They gave it to me, I remember, I mean, I got a lot of presents, but the only one I remember opening was my first camera when I was eight years old. The Brownie Hawkeye camera. And so I started getting interested in photography, reading photography magazines, my main influence was Man Ray because he used to make photography an art form. I’ve always been very aware of trying to capture the moment and feelings. He does that so well, and I always thought of photography as an art form.

VIDEO - LAUNCH EVENT

Whiting, Sam (November 9, 2020). "Bob Gruen recalls the time the Clash got stoned driving down Mount Tamalpais". Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Archived from the original on 2020-11-10 . Retrieved 2021-04-20. Shortly after John Lennon moved to New York in 1971, Gruen became John and Yoko’s personal photographer and friend, making photos of their working life as well as private moments. In 1974 he created the iconic images of John Lennon wearing a New York City t-shirt and, standing in front of the Statue of Liberty making the peace sign - two of the most popular of Lennon’s images.

Shortly after John Lennon moved to New York in 1971, Bob became John and Yoko’s personal photographer and friend, making photos of their working life as well as private moments. In 1974 he created the iconic images of John Lennon wearing a New York City t-shirt and standing in front of the Statue of Liberty making the peace sign – two of the most popular of Lennon’s images.Like any friends you make,” he says, “you learn how to get along with them, and both John and Yoko were very perceptive people. They were aware of living in the present and how to have a good time. They were very funny – not many people might be aware that Yoko is quite witty, but then you couldn’t live with John without having a good sense of the absurd. Hillary (Hilly Kristal was an American club owner and musician who was the owner of the iconic New York City club, CBGB, which opened in 1973) just wanted to have enough money to pay the rent and sit in the front, having a beer and watching TV without having anyone bothering him. Bob’s “Sid Vicious with Hot Dog” photo was acquired by The National Portrait Gallery, London, in 1999 for their permanent collection. The Experience Music Project, Seattle, acquired his “Clash Live in Boston”, “Tina Turner Multiple Image”, and “Bloody Sid Vicious” photos for their permanent collection in March 2012.

This book covers more than that, though, it is also about him, his life, how his early years as a young kid with a camera, and an eye that looked for more than the standard shot, wanting something that captured the feeling of the moment, the movement, the excitement, and occasionally the frustration and the dreams as well as the excess. On July 8, 1970, Gruen, then 24, caught the legendary R & B duo, Ike and Tina Turner, at the Honka Monica Club in New York and watched as Tina moved like a “whirling tornado” under the strobe light. Thinking on his feet, Gruen decided to open the camera for a one second exposure, and let Tina and the strobes do the rest. The result was a multiple exposure of Tina Turner that evokes the spirit of Marcel Duchamp’s 1912 painting, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2. Two nights later, Gruen went out to New Jersey to see them perform again and showed the prints to graphic designer Judy Rosen, who in turn encouraged Gruen to show them to Ike. In 2014, his documentary film Ike & Tina On The Road: 1971–72 won the Living Blues Award for Best Blues DVD of 2013. [20]

Britt, Grant (December 20, 2012). "DVD Review – Ike and Tina "On The Road 1971-72" ". No Depression. Archived from the original on 2020-10-20. Allan Kliger: Hello Bob, It’s a pleasure to have an interview with you! It’s a great opportunity for Lens’ readers to get familiar with the man behind some of the most famous iconic photos of figures in the music scene during the past 40 years! Oh, she wasn’t just an influence – she actually taught me how and when to squeeze the buttons and how to print my pictures. She was also a lawyer, so she taught me about the business side of things, to think about my pictures after they were printed. At a very young age, early teens, even before – way before I took up photography – I had small home businesses, so I learned all about expenses, income, outgoings, losses and gains, and so on.” And then I had given him that T shirt, the New York City T shirt about one year earlier. So, when we were sitting there on the roof with the beautiful skyline all around us, I asked if he still had that shirt a and he knew which one I was talking about. So I knew he still had it with him. I knew he liked it and he knew where it was and he looked comfortable in it. We took the series of pictures. We had no idea at the time that it was going to become as popular as it did. It was just one more of many photos that we had taken, but that one seems to stand out. People really like it.