In 1956, freelance photographer Alfred Wertheimer was assigned to photograph a 21-year-old singer who RCA was promoting. It was Elvis Presley, a name the 26-year-old Wertheimer did not recognize when he trekked down to New York City's Studio 50 (later to be named the Ed Sullivan Theater) to photograph Presley's appearance on Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey's Stage Show.
At the time, Elvis had already recorded "Heartbreak Hotel" and was beginning to gain some notoriety, but he was nowhere close to becoming a cultural icon. He could still walk the streets unrecognized, and, because of this, Alfred Wertheimer got the opportunity to shoot reams of film of Elvis both on stage and off in the last remaining months before Elvis' life would change forever.
Among his most famous shots was The Kiss, a photo of Elvis nuzzling a woman fan backstage. There were also photographs of him recording “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel”, reading fan mail, eating alone, staring out of a train window, playing a piano in an empty studio and walking by himself on a deserted New York street – these latter depicting a solitude that was later surrendered to fame and mobs of fans.
Wertheimer had humble beginnings. His family fled Hitler’s Germany when he was six and settled in Brooklyn, where his father was a butcher. As a boy he received his first camera from his brother and became fascinated with photography.
Stunning photograph of Morrissey by Mary McCartney taken at the Royal Festival Hall, London in 2004
Iconic image of David Gilmour playing his ‘The Black Strat’ with Pink Floyd live at The Rainbow Theatre, London on 4 November 1973.
David Bowie, Lou Reed & Iggy Pop during a press conference at the Dorchester Hotel, London in July 1972
Horace Silver performing at the Newport Jazz Festival, Rhode Island in July 1966
Sir Elton John is an English pianist, singer-songwriter, composer & pop icon who has sold millions of records and won countless awards.
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A fantastic curated collection of museum quality fine art prints by leading music photographer Barry Schultz
Here are the very latest prints we have added to our collection. We hope you love them as much as we do.
For eight years photographer Brian Duffy worked with David Bowie and shot his most iconic and enduring images. View his fantastic collection
Welcome to our Jazz & Blues Print Collection - over 50 years of iconic images of the world's greatest Jazz & Blues musicians
