Henry Diltz has been one of the most important photographers in rock ‘n’ roll for almost half a century, shooting rock icons from Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain. I met him through Henry Rollins when he was working as a still photographer on The Henry Rollins Show, and have been a fan ever since I first saw his work.

Diltz started out as a folk musician, playing with the Modern Folk Quartet, and bought his first camera while on tour with them. He started hanging out with The Monkees and taking photos of them, and shot an album cover—the first of over eighty he would go on to shoot—for The Lovin’ Spoonful. He immersed himself in the rock scene and became the go-to photographer for bands like The Doors and Crosby, Stills and Nash, and was the official photographer for Woodstock and the Monterey Music Festival. He transcended the hippie generation and continued to shoot an extremely impressive roster of artists too long to list here. The reference photo of Neil Young for this piece was taken in 1969 and my all time favorite photo of Neil. Thanks for collaborating Henry.

-Shepard