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was in college at the University of Illinois and
had no idea what I wanted to do with
my life," recalls Natkin. "My father came home
one day and said he had gotten a job
photographing the Chicago Bulls. As a
photographer, you get the best seat in the
house, right at courtside." When Natkin
discovered in 1975 that the same held true
for concerts, he combined his work with his
love of music to become a music photog-
rapher. "I was coming home from photographing a
tennis match and was listening to
the radio. They were talking about a concert on
the Northwestern campus with a
woman named Bonnie Raitt. I had all my
equipment with me and figured if I could
[talk] my way into a sporting event, I could
[talk] my way into a concert. The guy at
the door saw my equipment and before I could
say anything he said, `You can do any-
thing you want, just don't walk onstage.' That
was my introduction to music photog-
raphy. I had always been a music fan and went
to concerts from the time I was 12. I
basically figured out a way to get into them
for free," he laughs. Although it took
some time to learn the technical aspects of
photographing a live concert, he began to
get photos published in local newspapers and
magazines. "I learned by trial and error
and spent a lot of time sitting in the darkroom
watching my father."
At a concert in Chicago, Natkin met the art
director of
Cream magazine and at his
invitation, began calling the magazine's editor
every day about selling his photos.
After two weeks, the editor finally accepted
his call and ended up buying a photo-
graph. "I think he finally took my call just to
get rid of me," Natkin says, "If you're
going after something, you go for it and don't
give up." The editor was soon calling
Natkin every month, and eventually he shot 20
covers for the magazine. He was able
to do the same thing at other magazines,
including
Rolling Stone and Playboy.Soon
his ability to get photos published in such
prestigious international magazines made
him in demand with artists and publicists
alike.
During a photo shoot with Keith Richards in
1988, Natkin heard the artist say he
was going out on a solo tour. Natkin wrote a
letter to Richards' manager offering his
services as a tour photographer, was accepted,
and spent three weeks on the road with
the artist. He did the same thing a few weeks
later with the Rolling Stones, and ended
up spending three and a half months with the
band on their record-breaking Steel
Wheels Tour. Since that time, he has covered
all the subsequent Rolling Stones tours,
as well as Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA
Tour, which got his photo on the cover
of
Newsweek magazine, and Prince's Purple Rain
Tour. During his 25 year career,
Natkin has photographed more than 3,000
different bands and individual artists,
spanning almost every style of music. In
addition to his ongoing career photograph-
ing musical talent, Natkin signed on as tour
manager of former Beach Boy Brian
Wilson's comeback bid.
www.natkin.net....
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