BOB GRUEN

In 1972, John Lennon and Yoko Ono conceived a concert at Madison Garden called “One to One.” It was a benefit for the Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, a facility for mentally and physically challenged children. John, Yoko and Elephant’s Memory were headliners along with Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack and Sha Na Na. Rehearsals were held at the famed Fillmore East in NYC and on one August afternoon, Bob captured this thoughtful shot of John on the stairs to the dressing room. There is something very quiet… very reflective about this moment in time… one that precedes what would be John’s last full-length concert performance in New York City.

Bob Gruen met John Lennon in 1971, shortly after he moved to New York. For the next nine years, Bob worked as John’s personal photographer and captured a wide variety of diverse moments in John’s career and in his family life. Bob and John became friends and the strength of that friendship is visible in every photograph that Bob took.