John Lennon is one of the most recognizable and beloved pop figures in history. So it seems unthinkable that a photographer could be sitting on a treasure-trove of valuable pictures when they could just go to any magazine in the world and sell them.
Interestingly enough, that’s not what happened. Yoko Ono (the most beloved figure in history) and John Lennon staged a bed-in for peace in 1969, to protest the Vietnam War and all wars. Although, side note, let’s be frank here, a bed-in for peace is probably the laziest sort of demonstration you could put on. Go ahead. Try to think of something lazier conceptually than staying in bed for peace. I dare you. You won’t be able to. See how simple it was in the ’60s? You could stay in bed with your ultra-famous spouse, and label that a peace protest. Nowadays, you have to do things like go outside, or, if you’re Sean Penn, talk about how you save people’s lives constantly.
Anyway, a Life photojournalist, Gerry Deiter, was the only person allowed to document the event, and he did. Life decided not to run the story for a more prudent and interesting (I’m sure) one on the Vietnam War. Gerry Deiter died in 2005, and the photos remained buried until this week.
So kudos to Gerry Deiter’s sense of charity and dignity. If I had some intimate photos of John Lennon stashed away I would be sure to share them with the world. For 100 million dollars.
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Comments
kyle
March 14th, 2010 - 5:45:36 AM
"Nowadays, you have to do things like go outside, or, if you’re Sean Penn, talk about how you save people’s lives constantly." Hilarious!!!
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