Da Vinci of 'da vinyl
Photographer Jim Cummins doesn’t sing or play a note, but his work is on some of the most popular albums of all time. For three decades, he took the portraits of some of the world's biggest names in music and created a museum's worth of iconic cover art.
Iconic album cover art
"You couldn’t be awe-struck in this, you had to be focused on what you were doing," Cummins says. "There are no rewrites in photography."
In this photo, Jim Cummins stands with drummer Buddy Miles backstage at Madison Square Garden at a Jimi Hendrix Concert on January 28, 1970.
Iconic album cover art
An amateur photographer, Cummins snapped the stars right in front of him, like Aretha Franklin and Sam & Dave. A friend saw the pictures and begged Cummins to send them off to Atlantic Records.
Here, the cover of Al Green's "Call Me."
Iconic album cover art
Atlantic paid him $350 for the two cover shots, then hired him to shoot a hundred more a year.
Here, Janis Joplin performs at Madison Square Garden on December 16, 1969.
Iconic album cover art
Cummins photographed music icons from Wilson Pickett to Glen Campbell, and just about everyone in between.
In this photo, Glen Campbell awaits his concert in New Jersey in 1969.
Iconic album cover art
Cummins doesn’t sing or play a note, but his work is on some of the most popular albums of all time.
Iconic album cover art
Here, a Burt Bacharach double exposure photograph for a Newsweek cover in 1970.
Iconic album cover art
"This was amazing! This was humbling," Cummins says of photographing music legends. "This was a mouth-open kind of thing."
In this photo, Chaka Khan.
Iconic album cover art
Cummins' private collection of 2,500 images was rotting away in his basement when he reached out to Bob Pokress, who owns a digital restoration company.
Here, Carlos Santana performs at Woodstock.
Iconic album cover art
A photograph of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Iconic album cover art
Here, a Led Zeppelin group picture for the first Zeppelin music book.
Iconic album cover art
Cummins' photos are now being restored, one negative at a time, which gives Cummins a chance to examine the grand sweep of his life's work.