Icons and Idols: A Photographer’s Chronicle of the Arts 1960-1995 By Jack Mitchell:
When John and Yoko returned to the studio in 1980, they were photographed by a few exceptional photographers to record for posterity what would end up being some of the last professional photographs to be taken of the couple together. Photographers like Roger Farrington, Allan Tannenbaum, Jack Mitchell, Bob Gruen, Annie Leibovitz and David Spindel were part of that exclusive coterie of individuals that helped to chronicle and preserve the last days of a man who gave so much to the world…
It is no coincidence when you look at all of the prominent people that the late Jack Mitchell had photographed over the years, that the cover photograph chosen for the book published in 1998, entitled Icons & Idols: A Photographer’s Chronicle of the Arts 1960-1995, was John Lennon and Yoko Ono! Jack’s photographs of the famous couple were part of a New York Times photography assignment that he had been given!
Jack Mitchell passed away in 2013, but he left a rich legacy. The following book is part of that legacy!
This is my copy of the Jack Mitchell book, Icons & Idols:
The back cover of the book:
I was so happy and fortunate to be able to obtain a signed copy of the Jack Mitchell book for my collection:
The front dustjacket flap of the book which provides some background information:
The back dustjacket flap of the book:
Jack Mitchell’s website: Home – Jack Mitchell Archives
by Jack Mitchell (Author, Photographer)
Edward Albee-Foreword
Publisher Watson–Guptill Publications
Publication date January 1, 1998
The links to purchase the book at Amazon UK and Amazon US:
AMAZON US LINK:
Icons & Idols: Mitchell, Jack: 9780817440251: Amazon.com: Books
AMAZON UK LINK:
Amphoto Books Publication date 1 Oct. 1998
AMAZON DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK:
“For thirty-five years, almost everyone who was anyone in the arts found themselves in Jack Mitchell’s photography studio in New York City. This book distills the finest results of Mitchell’s own artistic mission to portray the greatest actors, dancers, painters, composers, writers, choreographers, and musicians of his day.
Mitchell’s list of subjects is a crash course in late twentieth-century art, including such luminaries as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Lauren Bacall, Alfred Hitchcock, Twyla Tharp, Jack Nicholson, Robert Rauschenberg, Meryl Streep, Luciano Pavarotti, Uta Hagen, Tommy Tune, Julie Andrews, Philip Glass, and on, and on.
In the sixties, his self-assigned goal of photographing the greatest painters and sculptors living in New York – for example, Isamu Noguchi, Louise Nevelson, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol, and Claes Oldenburg – led to a retrospective exhibit in 1974.
Although the photographs that follow speak for themselves, captions accompany each one, providing a time-capsule context. Mitchell’s wry sense of humor peeks out from behind the lens in these anecdotes about America’s greatest living (and sometimes now deceased) legends.“
Author discusses his Lennon/Ono shoot on YouTube:
Jack Mitchell Photographs John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Photographer’s Gallery/Website:
Jack Mitchell and his Photographic Archives
Gallery – Jack Mitchell Archives
Photographer Background info:
Jack Mitchell (photographer) – Wikipedia
Hope you enjoyed this blog piece about the work of photographer, Jack Mitchell!
A little teaser-there are two more books by other photographers from the 1980 photography sessions that will hopefully be seeing the light of day, very soon! Do you know who they are?
Wishing you all the best for a healthy and happy 2026!
Buzz
