Jim Marshall
February 3, 1936–March 24, 2010

Jim Marshall has been called the most celebrated and prolific photographer of the 20th century and is widely known for his iconic music photography. In death, Jim holds the distinction of being the first and only photographer to be given the Recording Academy's TRUSTEES AWARD, an honorary GRAMMY presented to individuals for nonperformance contributions to the music industry. The award was bestowed on the Jim Marshall estate in 2014 in recognition of Jim's unprecedented chronicling of music history from the 1950s through the early 2000s.

Jim willed his entire estate of more than one million black-and-white and color negatives—which he referred to as his “children”—to his trusted, longtime assistant Amelia Davis. In her own right, Davis is an accomplished and award-winning photographer. She has published three photographic books of her own work and has been included in numerous gallery and juried exhibitions.

Jim Marshall Photography LLC was established with the primary goal to preserve and protect Marshall’s extraordinary legacy as a discerning photojournalist and a pioneer of rock-and-roll photography. The estate is continuing the legacy of Jim Marshall through sales and licensing, exhibitions, publishing and the development of a comprehensive catalog as a reference for the totality of his life's work. The estate is also developing partnerships with a select number of brands to extend the tail of Jim’s work and iconic images for generations to come.

Jim Marshall's photography is available for purchase exclusively at authorized galleries, and Jim Marshall Photography LLC is the sole authority to provide a Certificate of Authenticity & Provenance from the Estate of Jim Marshall.

Obits, Remembrances, Tributes

A video created for Jim Marshall's memorial service.

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Consistently captured moments of real candour: Marshall in 2005

There are good photographers and there are great photographers; Jim Marshall was one of the latter, an inspirational photojournalist. When he took his Leica to San Francisco's Candlestick Park on 29 August 1966 for another sold-out concert by The Beatles, few – certainly not him – knew the group was kissing goodbye to screams and touring. Marshall repeatedly froze history, sometimes dramatically, as when Hendrix set fire to his guitar at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. More often he caught the living ginger of his subjects' personalities.

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Hanging in the living room of Jim Marshall's Castro flat is a photograph of Obama standing in the White House, pointing to a picture of John Coltrane on the wall. Marshall took that Coltrane photo more than 40 years ago in San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ralph J Gleason's living room. Underneath the image of Obama is inscribed, " To Jim--I'm a big fan of yours and John's. Best, Barack Obama."

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Jim Marshall, 2009; photo credit: Robert Knight

The Water is Muddy, the Belly Is Lead, the Wolf is Howlin, the Heat is Canned. Jim Marshall, Rock and Roll Photography Legend, 74, Dies.

After getting the message about Jim Marshall's passing last Wednesday, my heart went narrow. And my hand -- surely leaked mojo. "Too close for comfort, baby," I thought. "But as always, too far away."

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Jim Marshall (Photo credit: Scott Sommerdorf, the Chronicle)

The photographer Jim Marshall, who has died aged 74, was as colourful and unpredictable as many of the rock stars he shot. "I've been busted a few times for drugs, guns, assault with a deadly weapon," he admitted in a recent documentary about his life and work. "I shot a guy once. It got out of control ... It's just part of who I am."

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Whether it was Jimi Hendrix setting fire to his guitar, Johnny Cash performing for hardened criminals at San Quentin State Prison, the Beatles leaving the stage after their final concert or the Rolling Stones at their most hedonistic, the photography of Jim Marshall helped to define the golden years of rock music.

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Jim Marshall (Photo credit: Jim Britt)

Jim Marshall, a photographer of iconic images of rock, blues and jazz musicians, died on Wednesday, March 24 in his sleep in New York City. He was 74. He was in New York as part of a publicity tour connected to Match Prints, a joint book project with the photographer Timothy White, in which images from the two photographers are juxtaposed according to common subjects or themes.

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Jim Marshall, early 1990s (Photo credit: Jock McDonald)

Jim Marshall, 74, a notoriously abrasive photographer who helped establish rock-and-roll's public image with his intimate and iconic portraits of Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and other performers in the 1960s and '70s, was found dead March 24 at a hotel in New York. The cause of death was not immediately known.

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