Behind the Music

Season 1, Episode 6

Episode Title: Imagemakers

Air Date: 1997-09-28

Overview:

Rock 'n' roll wouldn't exist without its image, and it's been the job of rock photographers to capture that divine union of talent, passion and style that makes a singer a star. Ever since Elvis Presley melted the camera lens with his wiggling hips and pouty lips, fans have hungered for that uncensored intimacy with their idols. BTM gets inside the visionary minds who created the iconography of rock 'n' roll: from the German photographer who gave the Beatles their mop top haircuts, to Andy Warhol and his classic album art, to the young upstarts whose work appeared in the influential rock magazine Rolling Stone and eventually defined a culture. Annie Liebowitz talks about how Yoko Ono's sudden camera shyness turned into one of her greatest photographs, and fashion imagemakers like Herb Ritts talk about how they made the shift from print to video when MTV opened the doors for a whole new mode of expression.