It has been said that Michael Putland photographed everyone from ABBA to Zappa and everybody in between. When looking across Michael’s archive, this is actually true. His work took him around the world and covered all the greatest artists of the last 50 years in both live, studio and intimate settings.
Michael photographed The Beach Boys numerous times from 1970 onwards mainly in Europe, where he covered their concerts at Wembley Stadium, and numerous other concerts and sittings with the band.
Born in 1947, Michael grew up in Harrow, near London, where he took his first pictures at the age of nine before leaving school at sixteen to work as an assistant to various photographers including Time-Life photographer, Walter Curtin and the legendary motor racing photographer, Louis Klemantaski. In 1969, he set up his own studio and by 1971, he was the official photographer for the British music magazine Disc & Music Echo. His first assignment for them that year was to photograph Mick Jagger in London.
A prolific photographer for music publications and all the major record labels: CBS, Warner, Elektra, Polydor, Columbia Records and EMI. He relocated to New York in 1977, it was here Michael co-founded the photo agency Retna which, went on to become one of the most comprehensive and respected music and celebrity image libraries in the world with offices in New York and London. Michael passed away, surrounded by love, at home after a short illness in November 2019