Rock `n` Roll Photographer, Jim Marshall, Dies at 74
“When I`m photographing people, I don`t like to give any direction. There are no hair people fussing around, no makeup artists. I`m like a reporter, only with a camera; I react to my subject in their environment, and if it`s going well, I get so immersed in it that I become one with the camera.” Not Fade Away-Jim Marshall
Jim Marshall was found dead at the W Hotel in New York on Wednesday, March 24th. Jim was 74 and was in New York to promote a new book, Match Prints, a collection of his photographs that he did in collaboration with a friend, Timothy White. Some of his photographs are so famous, that they practically helped to define the star. The shot of Hendrix setting his guitar on fire at Monterey Pop is a good example.
His approach was natural, and he often shot in black and white. He shunned theatrics or staging and saw himself as more of a reporter, just trying to capture the moment. I like the one of Janis Joplin gripping a bottle of Southern Comfort. Now that`s a moment. Jim did as many as 500 record covers also. I would like to look over (need a refresher course) these covers.
One wonders how a photograph can help to ignite the career of a rock star? If the photo is good enough, it will be published in magazines and shown on TV. And nowadays it will spread like wildfire on the internet. But ultimately, the shot has to elicit some sort of emotion from the viewer. Just look at Johnny Cash shooting the bird at San Quentin State Prison. If you don`t feel something from that, then you must be dead! (source-The New York Times-Jim Marshall, Rock `n` Roll Photographer, Dies at 74 by Ben Sisario-March 25, 2010) *(above left my photo of a photo of Jim Marshall by Jeffrey Scales/HSP Archive)
