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Linda's career behind the lens began in 1966 when she snagged a press pass for an exclusive Rolling Stones gig while working as a receptioniust at a magazine. The band was impressed by the shots she took and a career photographing musicians was created. In 1968, her photo of Eric Clapton led to her distinction as the first female to shoot a Rolling Stone front cover. Among the artists captured on film by Linda: Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Simon & Garfunkel, the Who, the Doors, the Grateful Dead and, of course, the Beatles. She met future husband Paul McCartney in 1967 while documenting London's "Swinging Sixties" on film. A collection of her pictures from the time — Sixties: Portrait Of An Era — was published in 1992 and became an international best-seller. Before her death in 1998, Linda said her participation in Wings brought her photogrtaphy career to an end. "Playing in a band totally stopped me from being a working photographer, my career just stopped," she said. "Before that I was taking pictures for all sorts of magazines and was working on photographs for a book about rock and roll. But it stopped because I joined a band and all the time that I was in that band was time that I would have been taking photographs." "Photography was more important to me than music — but my husband and my family were more important to me than photography, and I was prepared to give up photography for them."
The McCartneys still insist on taste-testing every dish themselves. "It's really personal to us because it is carrying on mum's message," says daughter Mary McCartney, who's now 38. "We know what she would and wouldn't have wanted," adds Paul. "Nothing goes through without the McCartney say-so. It has to, because it's our name on the packet."
In late April 2008, Paul opened an exhibition of Linda's photography at the James Hyman Gallery in London, marking the 10th anniversary of Linda's passing.
at the James Hyman Gallery:  Paul praised Linda as "an artist with a special vision" at the opening of the exhibition. "She could see beauty in changing a baby's nappy," said Paul. "Linda was clever, she was intuitive, and a great artist, and I'm delighted that this exhibition gives people a chance to see that." Paul says three years were spent readying the exhibit. Daughter Mary McCartney — who, like her mom, is a venerated photographer — helped Macca assemble the collection. "The photographs not only illustrate her incredible talent as an artist, but as someone who was very much connected to the culture of the times and wasn't afraid to challenge herself or her subject," says Sir Paul. Paul McCartney, who performed a career-spanning medley at the 2008 BRIT Awards, said two of the included songs had special meanings. Sir Paul performed the gala's finale as he accepted the BRIT for Outstanding Contribution To Music. "'Live And Let Die' is the song that reminds me of Linda," said Paul. "'Hey Jude' reminds me of John." The 150-year-old brass ensemble called the Black Dyke Band performed a Paul McCartney composition which has never been previously heard by the public. The piece was originally composed by Paul as a tribute to Linda while he was assembling the Ecce Cor Meum oratorio project. It was performed at Derby Cathedral on February 23rd, 2008, as part of a benefit for the Derby Salvation Army. The Black Dyke Band, when it was billed "John Foster & Sons Ltd Black Dyke Mills Band," released a McCartney original, "Thingumybob," backed by a cover of "Yellow Submarine" on one of the first Apple single releases in 1968. The band has also done projects with several classical performers and rock artists like Tori Amos and Peter Gabriel. |
The World Through Linda's Lens is a compilation of pics from Linda McCartney's years as a rock photographer, released on "Four Twenty" — April 20th, 2011.
Paul McCartney and his family still have a hands-on approach to the Linda McCartney vegan frozen food line, which is now now under the Hain Celestial umbrella.
