About this photograph
Boston-born singer-songwriter James Taylor spent his early years in the college town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his father was dean of the U.N.C. Medical School. His was a musical family and Taylor chose the guitar. In 1966, at the urging of childhood Martha’s Vineyard friend Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, Taylor moved to New York and they started a band together, The Flying Machine. In 1967, Taylor moved to London and using Kortchmar’s friendship with Peter Asher, found himself the first non-British act signed to Apple Records. When Jack Robinson photographed the twenty-one year old Taylor on May 20, 1969, his first album had just been released. Peter Asher would later resign from Apple and manage Taylor’s career, recording him with a simple, straightforward style. Less than a year after these photographs were taken, Taylor would release a definitive album, Sweet Baby James (1969). Photographed by Jack Robinson.
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
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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