Biography

Baron Wolman was ranked among the 20th Century’s elite and most collectible photographers. As the first photographer of Rolling Stone Magazine he was granted unique access to rock ’n’ roll’s most eponymous and notorious emerging icons, from Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix. His reputation with a camera and an eye for talent and a story, gave him a ticket to ride the tour buses from Haight Ashbury to Woodstock. His cover stories launched legends and gave him the keys to the dressing rooms and homes of rock ’n’ roll’s biggest stars. But Wolman also kept a sharp eye out for the cultural shifts in fashion and culture that inspired youth. He was the first to realise - and photograph - the emerging phenomenon of Groupies, befriending the girls and persuading them to pose for historic portraits that captured the freedom and style of young women newly liberated by the Pill, fashion and music. Ever vigilant for the cover story, he recognised the need to chronicle other emerging talent such as the young guns of literature, art and jazz. He spotted and photographed the tectonic cultural shift of San Francisco's Summer Of Love which heralded the age of the Hippy, even starting his own magazine Rags to explore the scene as the phrase “turn on, tune in, drop out” became the global mantra for a generation. Few living photographers rode the roller-coaster ride of the 60s alongside the icons of that age. Baron Wolman passed away on November 2, 2020, of complications from ALS.