Guy Webster

Guy Michael Webster (September 14, 1939 – February 5, 2019) ) was one of the early innovators of rock ‘n’ roll photography. His fifty-year career spanned the worlds not only of music but film and politics. While shooting album covers and magazine layouts for numerous groups – the Rolling Stones, the Mamas & the Papas, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Doors, Simon & Garfunkel among many others – he also photographed film legends like Rita Hayworth, Dean Martin, and Natalie Wood. As the primary celebrity photographer for dozens of magazines worldwide, Webster captured entertainers including Igor Stravinsky, Barbra Streisand, Jack Nicholson and American presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Webster's work was collected in the award-winning book, Big Shots: The Photography of Guy Webster, published by Insight Editions. His passion for photography was matched by his love of Italian motorcycles; his personal collection of bikes considered among the world's finest. He spent the later part of his life in Ojai, California, where he volunteered and taught photography at the Oak Grove School (Ojai, California). He died there on February 5, 2019, as a result of complications arising from diabetes and liver cancer.

Early life Guy Webster was born on September 14, 1939, in Los Angeles into a show business family. His parents were Gloria Benguiat Webster and Paul Francis Webster, an Academy Award–winning songwriter who won Oscars for his lyrics to "Secret Love", "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", and "The Shadow of Your Smile". His younger brother, Mona Roger Webster, is a conceptual artist, real estate investor, and long time resident of Venice, California.

Webster grew up in the heart of celebrity-studded Beverly Hills, on North Crescent Drive. He was present at the Monterey International Pop Festival; his pictures of Laura Nyro, Janis Joplin and the Who captured their era-defining stature. Similarly, his shot of Jimi Hendrix at the Hollywood Bowl in August, 1967, showcased both artists’ at their creative best. After Monterey, Webster was contacted by Herb Alpert, the head of A&M Records, to head up their graphic design department. He stayed there for the next few years, overseeing a golden age in album art work, as listeners became as enamored with the record sleeves as much as the music. It was a demanding job, keeping musician's hours, managing corporate responsibilities with creative challenges. "The musicians treated me with great respect and I treated them exactly the same. I always said to them, 'Let's have fun, because you’ll probably never want to pose together again. You’re going to get into arguments over money. And this time next year you may well be gone.’ I hope I said it with humor... "I never got sucked into the entertainment lifestyle that destroyed some of my friends. I had some emotional distancing—no doubt a gift from my father ... I had my life with a wife, three kids, and blues on the stereo. Howlin' Wolf was my escape."

Webster died on February 5, 2019.

Notable album covers

Personal life

Children Webster had three children from his first marriage: Erin, Michael and Sarah Webster; and two daughters from his second marriage: Jessie and Merry Webster.

Relationships Webster's first marriage was to Bettie Beall, and his second marriage was to model Leone James in 1980. Webster had a younger brother, Mona Roger Webster.

Religion Webster described himself as a "left-winger, atheist, and a Buddhist". His parents were both of Jewish ancestry; through the years they studied various religions.