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Robert Whitaker

1939 - 2011

Robert Whitaker was a renowned British photographer, best known internationally for his many photographs of The Beatles, taken between 1964 and 1966, and for his photographs of the rock group Cream, which were used in the Martin Sharp-designed collage on the cover of their 1967 LP Disraeli Gears. Whitaker was born in the United Kingdom but describes himself as 'one part Aussie lad' since his father and grandfather were both Australian.

It was with The Beatles and especially John Lennon, with whom he became close friends, that Robert Whitaker created his most famous and enduring work. With almost unlimited access to the most famous and popular band in the world, Robert Whitaker quickly became a key figure of the London underground scene, capturing 'the creativity and excess of London in the sixties'. He has been quoted as saying: 'There were about 100 people who ran the Sixties' and he was fortunate enough to meet and photograph virtually all of them. At Opus Art buy limited edition prints Admiration and Taking A Break, Argyllshire by Robert Whitaker which feature John Lennon and the Beatles. 

One of Robert Whitaker’s most famous collaborations was created with Sharp for the classic psychedelic album cover for Cream's landmark 1967 LP Disraeli Gears. Whitaker's friendship with Sharpalso led to him becoming closely involved with Oz magazine in 1967-68, and he contributed to many of the early editions of the famous underground magazine.

Over the next few years Robert Whitaker gradually moved away from the pop scene and back to the art world, where he had begun his photographic career. One of his most famous subjects from this period was a long time hero, the doyen of surrealism, Salvador Dalí, whom he photographed several times between 1967 and 1972.

In 1969 he photographed Mick Jagger (who nicknamed him 'Super Click') during the production of Nicolas Roeg’s Performance and he accompanied Jagger to Australia to photograph him on location during the filming of Ned Kelly. These images were published in book form as the 1970 under the title Mick Jagger Is Ned Kelly.

Robert Whittaker also worked as a photojournalist, covering major world events for Time and Life magazines, and his assignments included the devastating Florence floods, the war in Cambodia and Vietnam and the bloody war of independence in Bangladesh. One of the most famous photographs from this period, Bangladesh (1971) depicts two dead soldiers near the Indian border, lying in golden sunlight, as if asleep.

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  Admiration

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