[Beatles] Lennon, John. (1940 - 1980) & Ono, Yoko. (b.1933) [Liebovitz, Annie. (b. 1949)
John Lennon & Yoko, New York, 1970 - Original Photograph
Original 1970 photograph of Lennon and Ono together in NY. Stamped by the photographer on the verso and also by Rolling Stone magazine. 10 x 8 inches, small tear in lower blank margin, else fine.In 1970, the 21-year-old Annie Leibovitz got an interview with the founding editor of Rolling Stone, a relatively new publication. Jann Wenner liked Leibovitz’s portfolio, and sent her on her first assignment, to take photographs of John Lennon in New York. In an interview about the session, Yoko Ono recalled that "she was like a student, very young and sweet and [we thought] this is interesting, [Wenner] didn't get some famous photographer...[Leibovitz] was more concerned about our spirit and that came through." The present photograph is from this historic session and does indeed capture some of the playful spirit of the famous couple. One of Leibovitz's images of Lennon alone from this series appeared as the cover of Rolling Stone in January of 1971 and was a crucial moment in the early career of this important photographer. Nine years later, on December 8, 1980 when Leibovitz took the iconic image of the naked Lennon curled around the clothed Yoko, she was the last person to professionally photograph Lennon, who was shot and killed five hours later. (5704)
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