Linda McCartney: A Retrospective of Her Life Through Her Photography

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. In May 1968, with her portrait of Eric Clapton, she entered the record books as the first female photographer to have her work featured on the cover of Rolling Stone. 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 Bandalbum. 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.  


Published by the art and photograph powershouse Taschen, this beautiful leather bound, velvet lined, clamshell boxed heirloom of a tome is definitely for the hard core music fan. Unfortunately, most of us will have to look at it from a distance, as the $1000 price tag may be little steep for the average consumer. Fortunately, Taschen publishes a more readily available edition in the neighborhood of $40, but no velvet in that one.