Joe Stevens (born July 25, 1938, in New York City) is an American photographer. He is known for his images of 1970s and 1980s rock musicians and bands such as

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, the Sex Pistols, and

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

. In the 1960s, he managed the Playhouse, a

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

coffee house, where he began taking pictures of musicians who performed at the coffee house. While working there, he was encouraged by photographer Jim Marshall. His 1965 image of Johnny Cash and guitarist

Luther Perkins Luther Monroe Perkins (January 8, 1928 – August 5, 1968) was an American country music guitarist and a member of the Tennessee Three, the backup band for singer Johnny Cash. Perkins was an iconic figure in what would become known as rockabilly ...

backstage at Carnegie Hall appeared in the 2019 public television series ''

Country Music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

''. Stevens does not have formal training in photography, but worked in the music business as

road manager In the music industry, a road manager is a person who works with small to mid-size tours (in terms of personnel involved, based on the size of the production). Job responsibilities include (but are not limited to): *advancing show dates *making t ...

for

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she w ...

and

The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including ...

. After encountering Marshall again at

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

, he decided he "had an eye" for photography and would make it his career. Moving to England in 1971-1972, Stevens took photos for the International Times credited to "Captain Snaps" until he received a work permit. In 1972,

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

hired him on the recommendation of his wife Linda McCartney to photograph the Wings Over Europe Tour. Linda knew Stevens from her own career as a photographer. Stevens worked for the New Musical Express in London through much of the 1970s before returning to New York City, where he photographed the

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kr ...

club scene, including early images of Debbie Harry and the Ramones. Several images epitomize his offbeat style: Paul McCartney hiding his face in Linda's arms during their arrest for marijuana possession in Sweden.

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

wearing plastic bags on his hands as he marches to protest the 1971 obscenity trial of Oz magazine; Peter Gabriel covered with soap bubbles circa 1974 in the bathtub of Stevens' London flat; and the fight between the Sex Pistols and their audience at London's Nashville Rooms in 1976. The Gabriel photo was one of many by Stevens that appeared on the cover of

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

. In January 1978, Stevens photographed the Sex Pistols on their only American tour. When the group broke up in San Francisco, Stevens gave singer

Johnny Rotten John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and aga ...

(John Lydon) airfare to New York City, and Rotten stayed with Stevens in his New York apartment before returning to London. Stevens describes himself as a chronicler of history. In 2015,

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Mo ...

of Sonic Youth said Stevens "was really the bridge between New York and London. . . . He was really significant in the whole history that was developing in new music at that time." In 2018, his photographs were used in the biography of Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and autobiography of British-American media executive

Les Hinton Leslie Frank Hinton (born 19 February 1944) is a British-American journalist, writer and business executive whose career with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation spanned more than fifty years. Hinton worked in newspapers, magazines and television ...

. His images continue to appear in the British magazine ''

UNCUT Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' and other publications. Stevens lives in New Hampshire.

References

External links

* American photographers 1938 births Living people {{US-photographer-stub