A self-portrait by photographer Timothy White.
Timothy White, photographer to some of the biggest celebrities and rock stars in the world, broke into photography using what he calls “New Jersey chutzpah.”
It was 1980, and the kid from Fort Lee had just moved to New York City after graduating with a degree in photography from the highly regarded Rhode Island School of Design. “I was doing anything, whatever it took, to try and find myself and make it as a photographer,” he says, including assisting a fashion and music photographer and shooting musicians. He soon met a group of painters and sculptors from South America and ended up traveling to places like Colombia and Venezuela to photograph them and their art projects over the next few years.
He came back with a portfolio of portraits he’d taken that was good enough to convince Rolling Stone magazine to hire him as a photographer. His first shoot? Photographing Yoko Ono and her son, Sean Lennon.
“I realized that was my thing—taking portraits,” he says. It was his connection to people that helped him get the shoots that ended up gracing the cover of Rolling Stone. “I like to make people comfortable, and my banter is sort of my stock-in-trade.”
Jon Bon Jovi Photo: Timothy White
His cover portraits included rock stars like Jon Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Guns N’ Roses, REM and Van Halen.
Now 70, White has received many awards and accolades, including being named one of the most influential people in photography by American Photo magazine.
White’s memoir, Life Through My Lens, is out July 21.
To celebrate his work, White has two new books. Life Through My Lens (Storyteller Media), out July 21, is a memoir of his life as a renowned celebrity photographer, featuring his iconic portraits of stars such as Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Julian Lennon and Whoopi Goldberg, along with personal stories from his career. In the fall, he’s also publishing a companion book of some of his best-known photographs.
While he was shooting for Rolling Stone, the magazine shifted to covering pop culture, including Hollywood celebrities—so White also began to photograph these elite actors. “The magazine had such importance, and so it was a great promotional PR tool for Hollywood and movies. And I saw that I really wanted to be a part of that,” he says.
When he finally found his niche in Hollywood through Rolling Stone and other magazines that he worked for, he began to immerse himself in that world. He shot for hundreds of movie posters, as well as advertising for television and movies. That led to photographing some of the biggest stars in the world, including Al Pacino, Sophia Loren and Harrison Ford.
Meryl Streep Photo: Timothy White
Danny Devito Photo: Timothy White
“I developed relationships with these actors and musicians and so was able to get them to trust me to collaborate, and we were able to develop some great imagery together,” he says.
That included convincing Brad Pitt to take a five-day motorcycle trip with him, stopping along the way to set up shoots, that yielded iconic images of the star, and talking Julia Roberts into dressing up and being shot in a rather dirty tire store on the West Side of Manhattan.
Those bonding experiences led White to form friendships with many of the famous people he photographed.
“And so out of that comes this wonderful experience of working together, and then all of a sudden, the magic happens. And it’s really a great experience for both myself and the subject,” he says. “To be directing Al Pacino, and he’s sitting there listening to me, when I see myself as this punk kid from New Jersey—it’s amazing.”
Jack Nicholson Photo: Timothy White
Whoopi Goldberg Photo: Timothy White
After decades of shooting rock stars and celebrities, White had become a legend himself and was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2018. Now living in Los Angeles full time, he came back for the ceremony.
“There’s something about the people from New Jersey. There’s an attitude, if you will—and it’s not a bad one, it’s a positive attitude—but it’s definitely something that’s unique to people from New Jersey. And that really shows in the kinds of people that come out of this state,” he says.
Queen Latifah Photo: Timothy White
Ice T & Spartacus Photo: Timothy White
The night of the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, he appeared alongside some of the famous New Jerseyans he’d shot, including Jack Nicholson and Susan Sarandon. “I went backstage afterward, and they were all still hanging out. Everybody was talking together for hours afterward. And I was like, there’s really something about all these well-known people from New Jersey.”
After the ceremony, he realized he’d photographed some of the most famous New Jerseyans, including Nicholson and Sarandon, Queen Latifah, John Travolta and James Gandolfini. He decided to turn those photographs into an exhibit, “What Exit? The New Jersey Spirit,” first shown at the Newark Museum of Art and now on view at Terminal A in Newark Airport, where it’s expected to stay up for five years. (The photos seen here are from the exhibit.)
He says the exhibit made him realize that New Jerseyans stand apart: “I think there’s a confidence that comes with being from this state. There’s something about it—maybe it’s being in the shadow of New York City, like New Jerseyans wouldn’t accept that—we’re not going to be in the shadow. We’re our own family. We’ve got the best tomatoes and we’ve got Jersey pizza. We’re sort of a different breed than the rest of the country. And for someone who’s really traveled a lot, that Jersey attitude really does stand out.”
