James Fortune
If you were a music fan in the 70s, you probably had one of James Fortunes’ photographs on a poster on your wall. His large posters (42” x 58”) featuring collages of his photographs featured artists such as Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney & Wings, Jethro Tull, Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, The Who and the Rolling Stones.
While in college James approached various record companies to see if he could photograph their artists for inclusion in the university newspaper. He was invited by Elektra Records to a local recording studio to photograph The Doors who were in the middle of putting together their “Strange Days” album.
Many of his shots are iconic such as Robert Plant with a dove on one hand (a bottle of booze and a cigarette in the other). His photos have been featured on many albums including Led Zeppelins “How The West Was Won” and “Mothership,” Iggy Pop’s “California Bleeding” and Ray Manzarek’s “The Whole Thing Started with Rock & Roll” as well as books such as “Hammer of the Gods, The Led Zeppelin Saga,” and “The Doors” written by the Doors and Ben Fong-Torres. Several of his photos are included in the permanent collection of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.A versatile photographer, James is comfortable in the photo studio, on the movie or television set, at a concert, or on location with any format camera, whether film or digital.
James' has the distinct honor of having his photo of Jimmy Page used as the cover of the " SMITHSONIAN ROCK AND ROLL " book.