Creating Rock Icons

Frank151: You’re a legendary photographer. Certain images you’ve taken have ended up being part of the Rock culture and have become icons. What is it like as a photographer to have an image become iconic?
Bob Gruen: When I take a photo I’m not expecting it to become an icon. Every time I take a photo I’m just hoping it comes out! Usually when I work there is some purpose to it, like a magazine story or an assignment from a record company. Then certain pictures I’ve been lucky enough to have shot have taken on an extra life. I’ve been lucky that some of my pictures have been able to sum up certain situations and certain people and certain groups. It takes years for a photo to become an icon.

F151: Why do you think that is?
BG: Well, because it takes time for people to see something in different situations over and over again when you’re talking about the same group or the same person. The picture of John Lennon I took in 1974, it was only published a few times in the next couple years. At that time John was a house husband, he was out of the lime light so he wasn’t really promoting himself. Most of the stories written about him were about his seclusion. But then in the ‘80s he’d been in New York for a while and had by that time become associated with New York. And then people started associating that image of him with New York more and more. There’s also the picture of Led Zeppelin with their airplane that became really well known. That became an iconic image of them and also of the excesses of the ‘70s Rock bands in general. I started meeting people who would tell me they had these pictures in their lockers during high school. That feels very good. I feel very lucky to have that kind of success, to have been able to make something that so many people appreciate.

F151: What kind of attitude or disposition do you take when you go into a photo shoot with these Rock stars who are either ultra famous or on their way to becoming famous?
BG: I don’t have different personas for people. I am who I am. I try to get to the people as they are. Most people are pretty easy to get along with. You know, I try not to be in the way, I try to be helpful, I try to do something that is helpful. I was always in it for the long run. I wasn’t into exposing people, catching them with the wrong woman or some drugs or something. I prefer to show people as they want to be shown and not expose them in some scandalous way. People will ask you to come back if you don’t embarrass them.


F151: Do you think there are any photographers out there today who are chronicling the Hip Hop movement much the way you were capturing the Rock movement?
BG: I’m sure there must be. You know, when I was taking my pictures I was making no money. When I first saw The Clash they were playing their second show, didn’t have a record deal, didn’t have any money. John Lennon, when I met him, he was an out-of-work Beatle. I took that picture of him in ‘74, it wasn’t till ‘84 that people started to notice it and it wasn’t until ‘94 that you could even call it an icon. It’s going to take twenty or thirty years for people to see those images from the Hip Hop era and then you’ll find out who the people are from Hip Hop that really stand out over time.
F151: Was there any one particular shoot, or a couple shoots, that stand out as great experiences? Not necessarily an icon image, but a shoot that you just enjoyed.
BG: Going to the Statue of Liberty with John Lennon was a hell of a lot of fun. It was really a kind of nice afternoon. Driving around with The Clash trying to find steamy streets that looked like Taxi Driver was a great time. And tramping around Kyoto with KISS was a great, fun day. KISS rarely puts on their makeup in the daytime. Photographing KISS was different from all the other bands I worked with because all the other bands you could take pictures of them during the day anytime and after the show take pictures of them at the party. With KISS, they were only KISS for ten minutes before the show after their makeup was on. When they came off stage the makeup was already running and there were no more photos I could take. So for them getting into makeup in the daytime was a big thing. Walking around the streets of Japan during the day with KISS was quite an experience. People were following us all over the place. That was a lot of fun.

F151: Is there anything about Rock in general you would like to impart to young people today?
BG: As long as you believe in the music, you’re free. Music is like photography – they are both an international language. In a photo I always try to capture the feeling of an event, the emotion, and that comes through in any language.

Bob Gruen’s Top Ten
I couldn’t narrow the list down any smaller than 14, and that leaves a lot of favorites out. This is pretty much in the order I heard them.

1. Holy Modal Rounders - First Album
2. The Fugs - First Album
3. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
4. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
5. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Volunteered Slavery
6. Beach Boys - Smiley Smile
7. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
8. The Rolling Stones - 12 X 5
9. Otis Redding / Jimi Hendrix -
Live at Monterey
10. John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band
11. Ike & Tina Turner – “Ooh Poo Pah Do”
12. Reggae Artists - Rockers
(movie soundtrack)
13. The Clash - Sandinista!
14. Paul Simon - Graceland