Ross Halfin

Ross William Halfin (born 11 August 1957) is a British rock music photographer. Since the late 1970s he has worked for some of the biggest acts in rock and heavy metal, including Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Who, Kiss, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Van Halen, Def Leppard, UFO and many others.

Early life Halfin was born and raised in Wimbledon Chase, London to a Scottish mother and Russian father.

His father Lazarus was a Russian Jewish actor, who then became a music publisher. He had a number one hit in 1957 as writer of the song "You're a Pink Toothbrush". which was a UK number one single for Max Bygraves. His uncle Dennis was a commando who was captured by the Nazis in Crete during World War II. Because he was Jewish, he threw away his ID card, stating he was Canadian and then spent four years as a prisoner of war in Colditz.

Halfin originally wanted to be an artist when he grew up. He attended the Wimbledon School of Art starting in 1975 where he studied painting.

Disillusioned with the school's preoccupation with Modernism, he started shooting music photography, bringing his camera along to rock concerts, which he could do with no restrictions at the time. He later claimed he became a rock photographer by accident.

Career Halfin shoots both freelance and assignment pieces, for magazines and clients directly.

He has toured with many bands, including Metallica, Iron Maiden, Status Quo, Def Leppard, The Who, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Jam, Blondie, Mötley Crüe, Van Halen, Aerosmith, The Black Crowes, Ozzy Osbourne, Kiss, Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age and The Mars Volta.

1970s Halfin began his career working for Sounds magazine in the 1970s, shooting various artists on the punk scene including The Clash, The Jam, The Sex Pistols, 999 and The Adverts.

1980s After linking up with writers Geoff Barton and Peter Makowski, Halfin moved on to working mainly in the US with bands such as Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, UFO, Rush, Journey, Aerosmith and Black Sabbath.

In 1980, Halfin became chief photographer of new music magazine Kerrang!, photographing their first cover of AC/DC. He continued shooting with them for the next 20 years.

1990s In the 1990s, Halfin took to travel photography on a casual but obscure basis, but his work would later resurface in an issue of Genesis Publications in 2011.

2000s Photo of Alice Cooper by Halfin in 2011Halfin worked with Eminem and Slayer, and started working with Metallica again in 2007.

He attended the Closing Ceremony of the 2008 Olympics Games accompanying Jimmy Page.

2010s Continued to shoot Metallica along with other mainly hard rock and metal bands, alongside travel.

In 2011 he confirmed he prefers trees to humans, stating "a tree isn't going to shout at you and it doesn't have 10 people around it screaming: 'We've got to wrap this up right now, mate'".

Personal life Halfin lives in the London suburb Cheam. He is good friends with Jimmy Page and Rod Smallwood.

Exhibitions The Age of Rock, 2015, Flo Peters Gallery, Hamburg, Germany The Ultimate Metallica, 2010, Blender Gallery, Sydney, Australia Made of Metal, 2005, Proud Galleries, London, England Iron Maiden: A photographic history, 1988 The Photographer's Led Zeppelin, 1995 Fragile: Human Organs, 1996 Metallica, 1996 Ross Halfin's Work: Bon Jovi, 1996 Maximum Who: The Who In The Sixties, 1996 Iron Maiden, 2008, Vision On Publishing The Ultimate Metallica, 2010 Def Leppard: The Definitive Visual History, 2011 Sojourner: Ross Halfin Travels, 2011, Genesis Publications Metallica: The Black Album in Black & White, 2021 Pete Way by Ross Halfin, 2021 Ritchie Blackmore by Ross Halfin, 2021 Led Zeppelin Vinyl: The Essential Collection book, 2021 Edward Van Halen By Ross Halfin, 2021 Randy Rhoads by Ross Halfin, 2021 Listen to Whitford by Ross Halfin, 2021 The Black Crowes by Ross Halfin, 2022 WASP by Ross Halfin, 2022 The Collection: Slash, 2022 Bon Jovi by Ross Halfin, 2023 Pronounced: A Photographic History Of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 2023 Queensrÿche by Ross Halfin, 2024 Velvet Revolver by Ross Halfin, 2024