Summer of Love: hot shots
Jim Marshall’s 1967 captures a cultural movement
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Summer of Love and what better way to celebrate that “tie-dye for” era than a retrospective (or two) of the work of rock ‘n’ roll and counter culture photographer, Jim Marshall?
Born in 1936 in Chicago, Marshall bought his first camera when he was teenager. Soon he started shooting musicians and artists, as well as chronicling the counter-culture movement. His iconic photos have appeared on over 500 album covers, and his intimate portraits of musicians in their natural habitat—namely San Francisco—perfectly capture the candid moments of the famous during that revolutionary time. The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, The Beatles, name a band or singer that was part of the Summer of Love, and Marshall probably shot them in his trademark black & white.
“I don’t call myself a photographer,” said Marshall before his death in 2010. “I’m a reporter with a camera.” Who always happened to be in the right place at the right time, Marshall summed up his work from 1967 with these words: “I captured a moment in time and was documenting history without knowing it. I was just doing my job, but it was not just a job. It was my life.”
Jim Marshall’s work can be seen at The GRAMMY Museum, 800 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015 thru May 14th, and at San Francisco City Hall, Ground Floor Exhibition + North Light Court Banners, thru June 17th.
