DAY 143

FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS

Baron Wolman (1937–)

OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE 1960S MUSIC REVOLUTION

When the first issue of Rolling Stone magazine came out in October 1967, it defined the rock and roll revolution of the 1960s in print and photographs. Baron Wolman, as the magazine’s first chief photographer, captured the famous and the soon-to-be-famous cultural icons of the era, including Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Iggy Pop, Pink Floyd, Jim Morrison, and the Grateful Dead.

Wolman was living in the center of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, a few doors down from Janis Joplin, and just around the corner from the Grateful Dead when he met Jann Wenner, founder of Rolling Stone.¹ Although Wolman agreed to work for free for the fledgling magazine, he wisely retained the rights to all of his images and developed an illustrious collection over the course of several years. Wolman was best known for his informal portrait style, disdaining the studio and on-camera strobes. He preferred to photograph quite close to his subjects and use available light.

After leaving Rolling Stone, Wolman went on to create his own magazine, Rags, with a focus on street fashion and culture. A few years later, he spent a year documenting the Oakland Raiders during their 1974 season. After he got his pilot’s license, he became enamored with aerial photography, which resulted in two books: California from the Air: The Golden Coast, and The Holy Land: Israel from the Air, which were released through his publishing company, Squarebooks. —GC