Unknown to most as a photographer, Linda McCartney produced exceptionally beautiful beautiful images of some of the most influential people in the music and fashion industries in the 1960s. Never before had so many people wanted to be a part of this culture, and with photographs like McCartney’s, it is easy to see why it was so idolised. Her images of some of the most important musicians in the world, which were candidly shot and taken from a fine art perspective rather than from a photographer's, gave the viewer an insight into their closely guarded private lives that other photographers did not have access to. Her friendship with them gave her the opportunity to photograph them in a way that was seen as a friend simply taking a few photographs, rather than a photographer taking pictures for a magazine or to sell for their own personal gain. It is extremely obvious to see that the people McCartney photographed were at total ease with her presence, particularly when looking at images of the Beatles.
Linda McCartney, formerly Linda Eastman, was born in New York in 1941.[1] Her father was a lawyer who represented fine artists and musicians, and so she grew up around such people as Willem de Kooning and Hoagy Carmichael.[2] With these great influences in her life, it is easy to see why she became so interested in fine art and photography. She studied Art History at the University of Arizona[3], which was where she first became interested in the art of photography.
After she had finished college, she moved back to New York and got a job working as a receptionist for Town and Country Magazine. It was here that she picked up an invitation to a press conference for the Rolling Stones on a boat called the SS Sea Panther. As she thought that no one at the magazine would be interested in this opportunity, she took the invitation and went herself. She was unaware as to why she was the only photographer ushered onto the boat along with the press, and she had no idea that this opportunity would lead to her being one of the most demanded photographers of the 1960s. When she returned to work, she found that she had every magazine present that day asking for copies of her photographs. The Rolling Stones’ manager had even asked her if he would purchase the negatives from her, to which she replied “I told him he could have as many copies as he wanted, but I was not selling the negatives”[4].
McCartney had a knack for always being there at the right moment. She claimed that they key was to always have her camera with her, as she never wanted to miss an opportunity. She shamelessly admitted that she had a severe lack of technical knowledge, and that most of her photographs were taken in black and white, as it was easier to compensate for an incorrect exposure. The photographs taken of The Rolling Stones helped her to move on from her job at Town and Country and become a freelance photographer. She developed fond friendships with many bands and artists at the time, such as Janis Joplin, Simon and Garfunkel, Jimi Hendrix, and most famously, The Beatles, and her photographs have featured in such infamous magazines as Rolling Stone.
Her relationship with Paul McCartney helped her to gain a close friendship with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, enabling her to capture intimate photographs of their life in the way that no one else could. Her documentation of the music and fashion scene at the time is extremely unique, and it is very easy to gain a sense of what it must have been like at the time to be involved in such an aspired to group of people. She created photographs that could not be replicated, and images that could be considered as art and not simply a photograph. They show the freedom of spirit that was felt by many, despite extreme political disasters such as the assassination of JF Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and the threat of a nuclear war(after the US government discovered Cuban and Soviet governments placing nuclear missiles in Cuba[5] in 1962). This created a state of panic throughout the world, especially in the Britain, as the government had agreed to let the USA place nuclear missiles on the United Kingdom, so as to be closer to Russia if a war broke out.
When looking at McCartney’s photographs, the troubles of the 1960’s seem like a completely different decade. She had an ability to capture some of the most idolised people in a way that makes them look like they were the most important people in the world.
[1] http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01185/arts-graphics-2008_1185494a.jpg
[2] McCartney, L, 1993, Linda McCartney’s Sixties: Portrait of an Era, First Edition, Bulfinch
[3] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0565371/bio
[4]McCartney, L, 1993, Linda McCartney’s Sixties: Portrait of an Era, First Edition, Bulfinch
[5] http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/kennedy_cuban_missile_01.shtml
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