03/17/2025
Photo of the Week! 📸
How do you capture a portrait of a photographer? Do you have them hold a camera? Place them in a studio with lights? Or do you find a way to tell their story through the lens? That was the challenge I faced when photographing the legendary Rock & Roll photographer Bob Gruen.
A good friend of mine, Craig Sumsky (owner of Cutting Edge DJ and Entertainment), is a huge Beatles fan—just like me. At the time, he was creating a blog about his personal Beatles journey, meeting and interviewing people with direct ties to the band. His blog took off, drawing in fans from around the world. Among his many interviews were Larry Kane(former WPVI Philadelphia news anchor and traveled with the Beatles), Helen Leicht(former WXPN Philadelphia host), and Denny Laine (of Wings and The Moody Blues). But one of the most memorable encounters was with Bob Gruen.
Craig and I made our way to Bob’s apartment in NYC, and from the moment we arrived, Bob was warm, welcoming, and full of incredible stories. He told us how rock stars would crash at his place to escape the press—names like John & Yoko, Debbie Harry, and Keith Richards. As I sat in his office, Bob casually mentioned, “The chair you’re sitting in was Keith’s favorite.”
When it came time to capture Bob’s portrait for the blog, I wanted to connect him to his most famous work. As we walked through his apartment, I noticed framed images of John Lennon on the wall—after all, Bob was Lennon’s go-to photographer and documented his life in iconic ways. I asked, “Hey Bob, could you sit right here and tell us more stories?” He obliged, and the result was the perfect portrait—one that tied the man behind the camera to his legendary subject.
Thank you, Bob!
