Famed rock and roll photographer had rare access to stars' lives

If you visit photographer Bob Gruen's website, you'll see pictures of Elvis, Bob Dylan, Green Day, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Blondie and many other legends of rock and roll. 

One of Gruen's most famous photos is of his friend John Lennon, wearing a New York City t-shirt. The American photographer captured the image while he was Lennon's personal photographer.

This photo, along with many others from Gruen's portfolio, are on display at the Art Lovers Gallery in Kelowna until August 14. 

Gruen met up with Chris Walker, host of CBC's Daybreak South, at the central Okanagan gallery to talk about the inspiration behind some of his best-known photographs. 

You've become quite close with some artists, like Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. What's it like photographing people who you know, versus people who you don't know?

Well, I think once you get to know people you have more access. So you have more time to be with people, get pictures of people in more intimate, more casual moments. But for me it's the same thing, I'm always trying to get a good picture of what's going on, of what I feel is going on. That's the important part. Getting to be friends with people was just what happened. 

Let's look at the gallery wall and pick a photo. Can you tell me about it?

That's Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious (from The Sex Pistols) on an airplane. We were going to a Radio Luxembourg interview one morning. It's kind of a stark picture because the girl in front of them is also looking at the camera [and] looks quite innocent and seems to not know there's literally a monster underneath her bed right behind her. She has no idea of the danger lurking.

You talk about the energy in photos, but what's the common thread in a photograph where that energy lives?

I think the energy lives in the viewer, you know you see the picture and you pick up the energy from the event and from the circumstance. But I mean, that's what I try and actually create that feeling in the viewers, so that it's the viewer who's feeling the energy.

Do you know it when you see it behind the lens?

I'm a fan of rock and roll. I was born before rock and roll, I was 11 years old sitting on my dad's stomach when we saw Elvis Presley on The Ed Sullivan Show. So, it's always been a passion for me, so it wasn't hard for me to figure out the right moments. I kind of anticipate when the beat is coming, when the passion is coming, when that moment of excitement is coming.

I discovered through your work Wendy O. Williams. Is there another band that you wish people could respect?

The last couple of years I've been a big fan of a band called The Strypes from Ireland, and I still look forward to whenever Green Day comes around. I think Green Day, they're a big band but they're an important band, because they're making statements. They sing songs like Minority or American Idiot about what I call social politics. It's not necessarily about a particular politician, it's about life, and they sing about life and about people wanting to have a better life.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.