See Hear Yoko

by Bob Gruen

Overview

See Hear Yoko captures the rich complexity of Yoko Ono—woman, artist, activist, wife and mother—from her days with John Lennon through the present, with intimate portraits by the legendary rock-and-roll photographer Bob Gruen, and words by Ono herself, edited from conversations with Jody Denberg, rock radio’s “Voice of Austin, Texas.”

Conceived expressly for Yoko Ono as a gift between friends on the occasion of her eightieth birthday, and published at her personal request, See Hear Yoko is legendary rock-and-roll photographer Bob Gruen’s tribute to an icon of contemporary American cultural history, from her days with John Lennon up through the present. Gruen, who served as personal photographer to Lennon and Ono during their years in New York City, has collaborated with his friend, Austin rock radio mainstay Jody Denberg, who edited twenty-five years of interviews with Yoko for the book’s text.

In this breathtaking volume, Gruen has selected more than two-hundred classic color and black-and-white photographs that intimately illuminate the life of Yoko Ono at the height of her fame as a woman, wife, mother and avant-garde artist (who keeps creating, she says, because “That’s who I am.”) Yoko’s role as peace activist and artist underscores the enduring legacy of the era of rock-and-roll. See Hear Yoko reveals a modern woman in love, in ascension, in grief, in joy and in peace.

Lavish and beautiful, mirroring the deeply personal design of the original volume given to Yoko herself, See Hear Yoko brings into focus an extraordinary woman and one of the most memorable periods in modern history. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062370709
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/17/2015
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	10.90(w) x 12.60(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Bob Gruen has documented the rock music scene for more than forty years, capturing renowned images of the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Blondie, and Green Day, among many others. In 1972 Gruen formed a close friendship with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and served as their personal photographer, documenting concerts and press conferences, as well as capturing serene moments between John and Yoko, and the first images of their son, Sean Lennon. Gruen took the iconic image of John Lennon wearing the New York City T-shirt. His photographs are in the permanent collection of London's National Portrait Gallery and have been shown at the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum. Bob Gruen lives and works in New York City.

Jody Denberg is a thirty-year veteran of the Austin, Texas, radio airwaves who has interviewed such artists as Paul McCartney, R.E.M., Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Neil Young, and Willie Nelson. An accomplished journalist whose work has been published in the Austin Chronicle, Rolling Stone, and Texas Monthly, among others, Denberg is a featured DJ in a permanent radio exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. He lives, and still broadcasts, in Austin.