Joe Stevens
American photographer (1938–2025)

Joe Stevens
Born
Joseph Stevens Grady

(1938-07-25)July 25, 1938
New York City, U.S.
DiedAugust 26, 2025(2025-08-26) (aged 87)
Concord, New Hampshire, U.S.
OccupationPhotographer
Known forPhotography of musicians

Joseph Stevens Grady (July 25, 1938 – August 26, 2025), known professionally as Joe Stevens, was an American photographer known for his photographs of musicians and bands such as David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, and The Clash.[1][2] In 2012, his work was part of a major retrospective of rock photography at The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles. His photos continued to appear in the British magazine UNCUT and The New York Times.

Background

Joseph Stevens Grady was born in the Bronx on July 25, 1938. After his parents divorced, he grew up in Queens, where he was raised by his mother.[3]

Career

In the 1960s, Stevens managed the Playhouse, a Greenwich Village coffeehouse, where he began photographing the musicians who played there.[4] He was encouraged by photographer Jim Marshall.[5] Stevens did not have formal training in photography, but worked in the music business as road manager for Miriam Makeba and The Lovin' Spoonful.

After running into Jim Marshall at Woodstock, Stevens decided he "had an eye" for capturing images and would make photography his career.[6] He considered becoming a war photographer and traveled to Ireland in 1971 to photograph the Troubles. In Belfast, he was mistaken for a terrorist and imprisoned for two months, but was released.

Settling in England, Stevens took photos for the International Times credited to "Captain Snaps" until he received a work permit. In 1972, Paul McCartney hired him on the recommendation of his wife Linda McCartney to photograph the Wings Over Europe Tour.[7] Linda McCartney knew Stevens from her time as a photographer in New York City.

Stevens photographed for the New Musical Express in London for most of the 1970s, including a number of covers. Returning to New York City, he photographed the CBGB club scene, capturing early images of Debbie Harry and the Ramones.

Images that are typical of his informal style[8][9] include Paul McCartney hiding his face in Linda McCartney's arms during their arrest for marijuana possession in Sweden;[10] John Lennon wearing plastic bags on his hands while protesting the 1971 obscenity trial of Oz magazine; Peter Gabriel covered with soap bubbles in the bathtub of Stevens's London flat;[11] and the fight between the Sex Pistols and their audience at London's Nashville Rooms in 1976.

In January 1978, Stevens photographed the Sex Pistols on their only American tour. When the group broke up in San Francisco, Stevens gave singer Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) airfare to New York City, and Rotten stayed with Stevens in his New York apartment before returning to London.[12]

Stevens described himself as a chronicler of history.[13] In 2015, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth said Stevens "was really the bridge between New York and London. . . . He was really significant in the whole history that was developing in new music at that time."[14] In 2018, his photographs appeared in the biography of Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page[15] and autobiography of British-American media executive Les Hinton.[16]

Stevens' 1965 photograph of Johnny Cash and guitarist Luther Perkins backstage at Carnegie Hall was used in the 2019 public television series Country Music. His photograph of blues musician B. B. King in London appeared in the 2024 biography of King's cousin Bukka White.

Personal life and death

Both of Stevens' marriages ended in divorce.[3] A resident of New Hampshire in his later years, he died at a nursing facility in Concord, New Hampshire, on August 26, 2025, at the age of 87.[3][17]

References

  1. ^ Broussard, Rick (July 16, 2013). "Rock Music Photographer Joe Stevens". NH Magazine. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  2. ^ Salewicz, Chris (2008). Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer. MacMillan. ISBN 978-1-4668-2162-0. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Williams, Alex (September 23, 2025). "Joe Stevens, Photographer of Rock's Intimate Moments, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  4. ^ Sander, Ellen. (1973). Trips : rock life in the sixties. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0-684-12752-0. OCLC 591933.
  5. ^ Hislop, Christopher (January 20, 2013). "Hot shots: Joe Stevens reflects on his time photographing David Bowie". Seacoast Online. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  6. ^ Stevens, Jenny (January 29, 2015). "Joe Stevens' best photograph: David Bowie chats to a Paris station porter". The Guardian. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  7. ^ Dahlen, Chris. "Picture This: Whatever Happened to Captain Snaps?". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  8. ^ Kanner, Matt. "Shooting the Pistols". The Sound. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  9. ^ Hislop, Christopher. "London calling: Fans of the Clash, head to Sonny's Tavern, where the rockers hang out". Seacoast Online. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  10. ^ Doyle, Tom (2013). Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s. Ballantine. ISBN 978-0-8041-7914-0. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  11. ^ "Pictures: A look at images, not just the rockers," Adam Coughlin, The Hippo, November 3, 2011
  12. ^ Lydon, John (2014). Anger Is an Energy: My Life Uncensored. Simon & Schuster, p. 177. ISBN 978-1-4711-3719-8.
  13. ^ Coughlin, Hippo
  14. ^ "The architecture of sound," Christopher Hislop, Edge, July 30 – August 5, 2015
  15. ^ Salewicz, Chris (July 23, 2018). Jimmy Page : the definitive biography. London. ISBN 9780008149314. OCLC 1045638468.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^ Hinton, Les. (2018). The bootle boy : an untidy life in news. Brunswick, Vic.: Scribe Publications. ISBN 978-1911617013. OCLC 1020637384.
  17. ^ "GOODBYE JOE STEVENS". David Bowie. August 27, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
  • Official website
  • Joe Stevens discography at Discogs
  • Joe Stevens at IMDb
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