Guy Webster (photographer)

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Guy Webster
Born
Guy Michael Webster

(1939-09-14)September 14, 1939
Los Angeles, California, United States
DiedFebruary 5, 2019(2019-02-05) (aged 79)
Ojai, California
, United States
SpouseBettie Beall

Guy Michael Webster (September 14, 1939 – February 5, 2019)

The Mamas and the Papas, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Doors, Simon & Garfunkel among many others – he also photographed film legends like Rita Hayworth, Dean Martin, and Natalie Wood. As the primary celebrity photographer for dozens of magazines worldwide, Webster captured entertainers including Igor Stravinsky, Barbra Streisand, Jack Nicholson and American presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Webster's work was collected in the award-winning book, Big Shots: The Photography of Guy Webster, published by Insight Editions.[9] His passion for photography was matched by his love of Italian motorcycles; his personal collection of bikes considered among the world's finest.[10] He spent the later part of his life in Ojai, California, where he volunteered and taught photography at the Oak Grove School (Ojai, California)
. He died there on February 5, 2019, as a result of complications arising from diabetes and liver cancer.

Early life

Guy Webster was born on September 14, 1939, in Los Angeles

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", and "The Shadow of Your Smile
". His younger brother, Mona Roger Webster, is a conceptual artist, real estate investor, and long time resident of Venice, California.

Webster grew up in the heart of celebrity-studded

Andre Previn
joined Webster senior to work on songs as Guy took notes. His mother liked to paint and sketch but her primary concern was making sure her husband and two children were well-attended to.

Education

He attended

fine-art photography, inspired by the work of Irving Penn. In the early '70s, while living in Europe, Webster resumed his study of art history at the University of Florence, Italy
.

Life and career

A childhood friend and Beverly Hills neighbor,

Aftermath. His most famous cover shoot was for the Doors first album in 1967. The group’s charismatic front man, Jim Morrison
, had already earned a reputation for being an inscrutable, hard-to- manage presence. Webster found an artful way to balance the group’s identity against Morrison’s renegade tendencies.

Webster's artistry came to define much of what came to be called

Florence, Italy. His collection would come to include rarefied models from Ducati, Gilera, Laverda. Tired of flying back and forth from Europe to the States for work, he returned to America and Southern California for good in 1979. Befitting his wide-ranging interests, subjects for his photo shoots expanded into the realm of the other fine arts: writers Ray Bradbury, Truman Capote, classical giants Igor Stravinsky and Zubin Mehta submitted to the Webster treatment. It was during this period that Webster joined Leonard Koren, founder of Wet: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing, as president and chief photographer. Guy moved to Ojai, California, in 1981 but continued to work weekly at his studio in Venice Beach, California. When in Ojai he volunteered and taught photography to students at Oak Grove School. Health issues dogged him in his last years, including a stroke and heart surgery in 2015. He remained, nonetheless, a vital presence in his adopted home town since 1981 of Ojai
.

Webster owned one of the world's largest and most valuable collections of motorcycles. In later years, he would occasionally sell tickets for motorcycle enthusiasts to examine his collection.[14][15]

Webster died on February 5, 2019.

Notable Album Covers

Year Artist Album
1964 The Rip Chords Hey Little Cobra
1965 Barry McGuire Eve of Destruction
1965 The Byrds Turn! Turn! Turn!
1966 The Rolling Stones Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)
1966
The Mamas and the Papas
 If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
1966
Paul Revere & The Raiders
Just Like Us
1966 Simon & Garfunkel Sounds of Silence
1966 The Rolling Stones
Aftermath
1966 The Hollies Stop! Stop! Stop! (U.S. release of For Certain Because)
1967 The Turtles Happy Together
1967 Tim Buckley Goodbye and Hello
1967 Spirit Spirit
1967
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
 Strictly Personal
1967 The Doors The Doors
1967 Taj Mahal Taj Mahal
1968 The Byrds The Notorious Byrd Brothers
1968 Nico The Marble Index
1968 Procol Harum
Shine on Brightly
1970 Carole King Writer

Personal life

Children

Webster had three children from his first marriage: Erin, Michael and Sarah Webster; and two daughters from his second marriage: Jessie and Merry Webster.

Relationships

Webster's first marriage was to Bettie Beall, and his second marriage was to model Leone James in 1980. Webster had a younger brother, Mona Roger Webster.

Religion

Webster described himself as a "

Buddhist".[9]
His parents were both of Jewish ancestry; through the years they studied various religions.

References

  1. ^ Marble, Steve (February 22, 2019). "Guy Webster, who ruled the world of album covers, dies at 79". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  2. ^ Marinucci, Steve (February 7, 2019). "Guy Webster, Photographer of Album Covers by The Doors and Rolling Stones, Dies at 79". Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  3. ^ Jagger, Juliett (February 6, 2019). "Famed Photographer & Album Artist Guy Webster Passes". CelebrityAccess. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  4. ^ Horst, Carole (November 20, 2014). "Showbiz Photographer Guy Webster Captured Hollywood Zeitgeist". Variety. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  5. ^ Fleming, Charles (January 26, 2017). "No longer able to ride, famed Hollywood photographer to auction his rare motorcycles". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  6. ^ Boot, William (November 30, 2014). "American Rock Gods: Guy Webster's Intimate Portraits". The Daily Beast. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  7. ^ "See Guy Webster's Iconic Portraits of the Stones, Jack Nicholson and More". Rolling Stone. November 27, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  8. ^ Kreps, Daniel (February 9, 2019). "Rock Photographer Guy Webster Dead at 79". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  9. ^
    OCLC 938214426
    .
  10. ^ Fleming, Charles (January 26, 2017). "No longer able to ride, famed Hollywood photographer to auction his rare motorcycles". LA Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  11. ^ Sandomir, Richard (19 February 2019). "Guy Webster, Master of the Album Cover Photograph, Dies at 79". The New York Times.
  12. ISBN 978-1454920526
    .
  13. ISBN 978-1595800602
    .
  14. ^ Los Angeles Times[dead link]
  15. ^ "Motorcycling: For the Executive Rider – A Connoisseur's Collection". May 2003.
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