Linda Eastman
attended exclusive schools including Sarah Lawrence School in
Bronxville, which was also attended by Yoko Ono. Early on in
her life she discovered her interest for photography and arts.
Contrary to widespread rumors, there are no relative ties between
Linda’s family and the
Eastman family which founded the Kodak Company.
Linda married for the first time at the age of 18. During
her marriage, which was divorced after three years, she gave
birth to a daughter, who was later adopted by Paul McCartney.
Linda worked as a writer and photographer for magazines in
New York. While she worked as photographer at the Fillmore
East Concert Hall in New York she established contacts with
the stars of a new pop culture at the beginning of their career.
Her breakthrough as a photographer came through a chance session
with the Rolling Stones on Hudson River. In 1967 she was asked
to photograph the Beatles, joined them on their tour and was
allowed to photograph them in the studio - a very special
privilege. On March 12th 1969, she married Paul McCartney,
who was the most popular of the Beatles among female fans.
With him she had three children: Mary, Stella and James Luis.
Today, Stella has become famous throughout the world as a
designer and Mary manages her mother’s photographic
heritage.
Linda’s style has always been unconventional and fresh.
Her work has been recognized around the world with exhibitions
at London’s Victoria and Albert Hall among others; she
was voted Female Photographer of the Year in the USA in 1987.
Her musical skills might be disputable, but her achievements
in promoting animal rights, environmental protection and vegetarianism
are indisputable. Linda’s cooking books have been even
more successful than her photo books.
Altogether, her interest in photography took a back seat
in the eighties. But in 1995 she compiled a representative
collection of her photographs for an exhibition. She even
produced the photo prints herself partially using special
platinum paper. These high resolution Platinum Prints were
signed by Linda. All the photographs are now on display at
Stromgitarren exhibition in Berlin. In November, her later,
more experimental photographs from the Roadworks series
will be shown. Thus, there is the opportunity to see all of
her photographic works for returning visitors.
Linda McCartney died of cancer aged 56. She never concealed
her illness; quite to the contrary she committed her energy
to promoting cancer check-ups. Her Death in 1998 affected
all of Great Britain. An unusual mixture of musicians came
together for a memorial concert: at the end Paul sang “Let
it be” together with Tom Jones.
J. Hoppe
All Pictures © Linda McCartney
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