#jimherrington

[jimherrington]

Billy Joe Shaver, my old pal from the ‘90s — I’ve been running into him again lately. He’s 77 years old and still singing and performing great, I saw him play two nights ago. The new Mike Judge/HBO animated country music TV show I was working on recently (I did the Jerry Lee Lewis episode) is doing an episode on him as well, it should be worth watching. I think it starts airing in April. I shot this in Santa Monica last month.

[jimherrington]

Fresh off the press... initial test proofs for The Climbers, my book of photo portraits of the legends of 20th Century climbing.

My editor says we're still, miraculously and no thanks to me, on schedule to have it in bookstores by October.

[details2decern]

Valentine, Texas

Photo by jimherrington

[americanlaundromat]

Hanging proudly at HQ is this fantastic photograph of @dollyparton by photographer @jimherrington #photography #signedprint #dollyparton #jimherrington #blackandwhitephotography #wallart https://www.instagram.com/p/B-UsID_Jaxp/?igshid=1e6b6j9hjupkd

[jimherrington]

RIP (and Happy Birthday) Merle Haggard.

In the '90s I did one of my favorite portraits ever of a undisputed giant of country music, or hell, music in general... and definitely one of my favorites.

Here's my photo of him, shot on a 4x5 camera at dusk, outside against the white wall of a building in Temecula, CA... 5 second exposure. I've had blinkers, fidgeters, and slouchers but I always remember how rock solid and unblinking Merle was, like granite. A minor thing to mention compared to his singing and songwriting, but I thought for sure he'd a been a blinker.

There was a kid's Big Wheel tricycle sitting nearby for some reason... and buried in my archives I have a photo of him sitting on it. That's the photo.

Photo © Jim Herrington

[jimherrington]

Just signed my first book deal.

[jimherrington]

Another one of John Doe, culled from the covey of photographs we took in San Francisco a while back for his new album. The record, The Westerner, comes out April 29 - buy it!

© Jim Herrington

[jimherrington]

Here is the hand of 85 year old French climbing legend Pierre Mazeaud, holding not only a rock he brought back from the top of Mount Everest but also his favorite smoke, a Toscanello.

Mazeaud was the first Frenchman to summit Everest (in 1978) but his climbing career started in the 1940s and was peppered throughout with major successes and first ascents in the Alps, the Dolomites and beyond.

I photographed Mazeaud today at his flat in Paris for my upcoming book about the legends of climbing.

As for the Toscanellos… Another climbing legend, the late Anderl Heckmair (who led the first successful ascent of the Eiger north face in 1938), turned Pierre onto these many decades ago and he still loves them.

© Jim Herrington