Richard Aaron

Richard E. Aaron (1949–2016) was one of the defining photographers of modern music culture. Over a career spanning more than three decades, he photographed approximately 4,000 musical artists, building an extraordinary visual record of rock, punk, soul, pop and performance from the 1970s onward.

Working at a moment when music was becoming one of the dominant visual languages of contemporary culture, Aaron moved fluidly between concert stages, backstage spaces, portrait sessions, recording projects and international tours. His subjects form an extraordinary cross-section of twentieth-century music: David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Queen, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Bob Marley, Prince, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, The Who, Paul McCartney and hundreds of others.

Aaron's photographs were published internationally in more than 45,000 magazines, newspapers and books, and his work appeared on hundreds of record covers. Among his most celebrated assignments was the photography for Peter Frampton's landmark Frampton Comes Alive! and his image of Paul McCartney and Wings for Time magazine.

Named by Modern Photography as one of the world's “10 Best Rock Photographers,” Aaron belonged to a generation of photographers who did more than document music: they helped establish its visual mythology.

What distinguishes Aaron's archive today is its exceptional breadth. Across thousands of negatives, transparencies, contact sheets and photographs, his work traces several decades of popular culture from inside the music industry itself. Seen together, the images constitute not simply a collection of celebrity portraits, but an extensive photographic history of an era.