Linda Wolf facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Linda Wolf
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Wolf in 2016
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Linda Ann Wolf
March 17, 1950 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Children | 3 |
Linda Ann Wolf (born March 17, 1950) is an American photographer and writer. She is known for being one of the first female photographers to capture rock and roll musicians. Linda also creates beautiful fine art photos, often focusing on women. She also works as a photojournalist, taking pictures around the world.
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Early Life and Photography Journey
Linda Wolf was born in Los Angeles on March 17, 1950. She grew up in Sherman Oaks, California. Her mother, Barbara Wolf, was a poet and a teacher. Her father, Joseph Wolf, was a businessman who loved photography. Linda's interest in photography started because of her dad's passion. He bought her first camera when she was a teenager.
Linda finished Hollywood High School in 1968. In 1969, she met Sandy Konikoff, a drummer for Jackson Browne. Sandy invited her to Paxton Lodge in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This was where Elektra Records was recording one of Jackson Browne's first albums. The studio had a darkroom, a special room for developing photos. Linda was very inspired by this experience. She decided then to become a professional photographer.
Linda's grandfather, Jules Wolf, managed the famous Lincoln Theater. People often called it the "Apollo of the West." From 1970 to 1975, Linda lived and studied in Provence, France. She attended the Institute for American Universities and L'Ecole Experimental Photographic. Her early photos in France showed people and daily life in the Vaucluse Mountains.
After France, Wolf studied at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She also taught photography through the University of California at Los Angeles Extension. She worked as a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Citywide Mural Project.
Capturing Rock and Roll History
Linda Wolf became famous for her amazing photos of rock and roll artists. She was one of the first women to do this kind of photography.
Photographing Fanny (1969)
In 1969, Linda started working at Warner Bros./Reprise Records. There, she met Fanny, the first all-girl rock band to sign with a major record label. Linda became good friends with the band members. She moved in with them at "Fanny Hill," a large house in Hollywood. For a year and a half, she lived there as the band's photographer. She took many pictures of their daily life and performances. Over 80 of Linda's old photos of Fanny are shown in the documentary Fanny: The Right to Rock. While living there, she also met Lowell George and the band members from Little Feat. She photographed them too.
Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour (1970)
Linda Wolf met Joe Cocker just a week before his "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" tour started. Joe Cocker had just arrived in the U.S. and needed a new band quickly. Leon Russell offered to put a band together. He gathered over 40 of his friends, all talented musicians. Denny Cordell, who produced the tour, invited Linda to join after seeing her photos. Linda and Andee Nathanson were the two official photographers for the two-month U.S. concert tour. The tour included famous musicians like Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge, Chris Stainton, Claudia Lennear, and Bobby Keys.
The music documentary Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen came out in 1971. It gave Linda Wolf credit for her tour photography. In 2015, Linda wrote Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen: A Memory Book. This book included over 150 new photos, quotes, and stories from the tour members.
On September 11, 2015, Linda Wolf joined the Tedeschi Trucks Band & Friends. She also joined alumni from the 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour. She was the official photographer for a special tribute concert to honor Joe Cocker. She even sang in the encore with the "Space Choir." Many original tour members, like Leon Russell and Rita Coolidge, were part of this event.
Joe Cocker passed away on December 22, 2014. Linda Wolf's photographs were used in Associated Press articles. These articles were written about his life and his amazing music.
Tribute: Cocker Power Book (2020)
On April 28, 2020, a large book called Tribute: Cocker Power was released. It's a 335-page "coffee table book." It features Linda Wolf's documentary photos from the tour. It also includes stories from the tour members and details from the Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour. The book also covers the 2015 tribute concert at the Lockn' Festival. This concert was led by the Tedeschi Trucks Band with Leon Russell and other original tour members. The book came out on the 50th anniversary of the tour and received good reviews. It includes contributions from over one hundred musicians and crew members.
Public Art Projects
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Linda Wolf created a public art project. She took photos of everyday people sitting on bus benches. These photographs were then placed on the sides of buses and the backs of bus benches. This project was done in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Oakland, California in the U.S. It was also done in Arles, France. Linda created these benches to show real people, as a contrast to advertisements. Her work was shown in many places, including the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. It was also displayed at the Rencontres International Festival of Photography in Arles. One of her benches is now in the courtyard of Musée Réattu in Arles.
Linda then developed another project called L.A. Welcomes the World. This was a series of large portraits of people from different cultures. These photos were put on billboards all over Los Angeles for the 1984 Summer Olympics. Eastman Kodak sponsored this project.
Organizations Linda Wolf Co-Founded
- 1981 – Linda helped start Women in Photography International. This organization's history is kept at Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
- 1993 – She also helped start The Daughters Sisters Project. This is now called Teen Talking Circles. It's a non-profit group that helps empower girls, improve relationships between genders, and support young people in making a difference.
Films Featuring Linda Wolf's Work
Documentary Shorts Featuring Wolf's Photography
- SOLA Spotlight Video (2024)
- I Am A Full Woman (2014)
- Joe Cocker Mad Dogs & Englishmen Memory Book (2015)
- The Caravan: Seeking Asylum in the United States (2018)
- Tribute: Cocker Power (2020)
Films with Contributions by Wolf
- Twenty Feet From Stardom: Leon Russell Montage (2012)
- Joe Cocker: Mad Dog with Soul (2017)
- Learning to Live Together: The Return of Mad Dogs & Englishmen (2021)
- Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time (2023)
- Fanny: The Right to Rock (2023)
Awards and Recognition
- 2023 – Linda received a SOLA Award. This award gives money to female visual artists over 60. These artists must live in Washington State and have created art for at least 25 years.
Collections of Linda Wolf's Photographs
Linda Wolf's photographs are kept in these permanent collections:
- Musee Reattu, Arles, France
- Musee Cantini, Marseille, France
- Musee Het Sterkshof, Antwerp, Belgium
- Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris
- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio
- Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, California
- Women's Building, Los Angeles
- Photographic Center of the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, Tokyo
- Harborview Medical Center Hand Wing Gallery, Seattle
Exhibitions of Her Work
Solo Exhibitions
- La Chapelle des Penitents Bleus, Aix-en-Provence, France, 1972
- Le Chateau de Goult, Aix-en-Provence, France, 1973
- L'Ancienne Poste, Goult, France, 1973
- Grace Church; Global Portraits, Bainbridge Island, Washington, 2013
Group Exhibitions: 1980–2021
- USC Fisher Galley Museum of Art, Sight Specific: LACPS and the Politics of Community, Los Angeles
- National Museum of Women in the Arts: Women who Rock, Washington, D.C.
- L.A.C.E., Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles
- Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France
- Sala San José de Caracciolos de la Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain
- Bainbridge Island Museum of Art: "Women in Photography", Bainbridge Island, Washington
- Bainbridge Island Museum of Art: "Breathe" Bainbridge Island, Washington
- Bus Bench Mural Project, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France, 1981
- Multicultural Focus, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park.
- The 12 artists from the original Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery were brought back together to show new work in Refocus: Multicultural Focus: an initiative of the J.Paul Getty's Pacific Standard Time, Arena 1 Gallery, 2012
Exhibitions Curated by Wolf
- Women in Photography, conceived and co-curated by Linda Wolf, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, 2017. This exhibition included many of her own photographs.
