Norman Seeff

In 1968, Norman Seeff left his job as an emergency medical doctor in Johannesburg and moved to New York City to pursue a career in the arts. He built his portfolio by photographing the people he encountered on the streets and in the bars of Manhattan, and the artist and musician friends he made there, including Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, Johnny Winter and Andy Warhol. After being introduced to the world of record covers by famed graphic designer Bob Cato, Seeff’s first assignment – producing images for The Band’s Stage Fright album – brought him immediate recognition. He moved to Los Angeles in 1971 as Creative Director of United Artists Records, where he received five Grammy nominations for cover design, opening an independent studio on Sunset Boulevard two years later, in what is now the Bar Marmont. Seeff’s shoots attracted large audiences and soon became legendary. A celebration of creativity, spontaneity and raw energy, Seeff’s sessions were emotionally engaging experiences, resulting in many iconic images that would grace magazines and albums covers, and contribute to the visual lexicon of the era.