Free Lunchtime Seminars

This week we present the third session in a series of seminars discussing the work of some of the world’s best and most influential photographers.

Linda Louise McCartney (24 September 1941 – 17 April 1998 ) also known as Lady McCartney after her husband was knighted in 1997, was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist.

Despite only having studied the photography of horses, McCartney's career took off when she was asked to be the house photographer at the Fillmore East concert hall, where she photographed artists such as Aretha Franklin, Grace Slick, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Eric Clapton, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who, The Doors, The Animals, John Lennon, and Neil Young.

McCartney photographed Eric Clapton for Rolling Stone magazine on May 11 1968 – which made her the first woman to have a photo featured on the front cover. She also appeared alongside husband Paul on the cover of Rolling Stone on 31 January 1974, making her the only person to have achieve both shooting a Rolling Stone cover and being photographed to feature on the cover herself.

Her photographs have been exhibited in over 50 galleries world-wide and a collection of her images were published in a 1993 book, Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era She also took the photograph for the cover of Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's single, "The Girl Is Mine".

In reference to beginning a career in photography, Linda has been quoted as saying: “In 1966 I started photographing rock and roll groups, and I found I could make a living from it. It gave me the independence I needed and it provided me with an exciting life. Although I didn’t make a fortune, it enabled me to pay my rent, buy food and look after my little daughter. What more could a young girl want?”