About this photograph
Joni Mitchell was born Roberta Joan Anderson in Alberta, Canada. She began playing guitar and singing in clubs in her hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, before busking on the streets of Toronto. After a failed marriage, which gave her the name of Mitchell, she moved to New York and her songwriting abilities were recognized by other performers such as Buffy Sainte-Marie and Judy Collins. Photographed by Jack Robinson on November 20, 1968, she had just released her first album and was about to appear in a concert at Carnegie Hall. In a “People Are Talking About …” feature of Vogue, Mitchell is described “with lake-blue eyes, hair poured like Chablis, and a voice that echoes through invisible hills.” Although she did not appear at the Woodstock festival because of a television commitment, she wrote the song “Woodstock” after watching news coverage, and from what she heard from her then-boyfriend Graham Nash who performed there with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. She said: “The deprivation of not being able to go provided me with an intense angle on Woodstock.”
Print sizes and editions
10” x 10” Paper size, 8” x 8” Image size - Open Edition
16” x 16” Paper size, 14” x 14” Image size - Open Edition
20" x 20" Paper size, 16" x 16" Image size - Edition of 75
36” x 36” Paper size, 34” x 34” Image size - Edition of 25
Print type
Archival pigment print
Paper type
Canson Platine Fibre Rag paper
Signature
Estate stamped by Jack Robinson Archive
About the photographer
Jack Robinson, Jr. (1928-1997), born in Meridian, Mississippi, became a renowned fashion and portrait photographer after moving to New York City in 1955. He quickly gained recognition through assignments with the New York Times and Life Magazine. His career peaked at Vogue, where he photographed celebrities like Elton John, Joni Mitchell, and The Who from 1965 to 1973. Despite his success, Robinson struggled with personal issues and relocated to Memphis in the early 1970s, where he shifted to designing award-winning stained glass. His extensive photographic archive, discovered posthumously, underscored his significant contributions to photography.
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