Between Life and the Underground: A Study of Photography Found in Rolling Stone Magazine from 1967 to 1972

Rachel Lobo

doi:10.32920/ryerson.14656503.v1

Abstract

In order to consider what the photography used within Rolling Stone magazine contributes to the history of photojournalism, Between Life and the Underground analyzes the aesthetic of the photography and conceptual layouts produced within the magazine. This study looks specifically at the period of 1967 to 1972, a time when mainstream publications like Life magazine ceased production and when over 500 underground publications were piloted. A comparative analysis of the design, economics, and production of both Rolling Stone and the underground publication the Berkeley Barb traces the influence that the underground had on the aesthetic of Rolling Stone’s photography and layout. The role that cover photography played in perpetuating the identity that Rolling Stone wanted to embody is also investigated. The influence that New Journalism had on the production of photojournalism at Life and Rolling Stone is also considered—framed around a comparison of the photographic coverage of the Woodstock Festival of 1969 and the police riots at the Democratic National Convention of 1968. This study concludes that the underground press cultivated a new photographic aesthetic and conceptual technique for laying out photographs which adhered to the ideals of the 1960s—namely informality, which Rolling Stone then adapted to create a profitable magazine.

Highlights

Introduction "RollingStone is on the line between so many dichotomies... we're between underground versus aboveground press, between newspaper and magazine, between being a trade paper and a consumer paper, between dope and music."1 -- Jann WennerMirroring the social and political unrest of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the magazine industry was undergoing a transformative period
What allowed for the widespread production and consumption of underground publications in the 1960s can be attributed to three factors: the widespread introduction of offset printing, an untapped audience of dissidents, and a labour pool of activists.44.Though Rolling Stone strove for more professionalism than the underground press, it was these same three factors that allowed Rolling Stone to flourish in the late 1960s
Though this study accounts for only five years, in this short time span we see a clear motioning toward the professionalism of a mainstream publication

Summary

Conclusion

In November of 1967 Jann Wenner printed 40,000 copies of the premier issue of Rolling Stone, and 34,000 were returned unsold.129 Hoping to tap into his drug friendly audiences, four issues later in a full page ad that shared a spread with the Beatles, Wenner offered a free roach clip with each subscription [FIG. 63]. Changed from marketing to an audience who believes “in the magic that can set you free”133, to boldly identifying themselves as “a general interest magazine, covering modern American culture, politics, and arts, with a special interest in music.”134 This evolution and malleability is clearly demonstrated in the photography that Rolling Stone publishes, perhaps most visibly in their cover photography. Reflected in all these changes is Rolling Stone’s flexibility, always striving to stay ahead of the curve—whether this meant coopting the casual or immediate style of the underground, or publishing increasingly controversial cover photographs. Wenner, “Random Notes,” 2. Peck, Uncovering the Sixties: The Life and Times of the Underground, 288

What role did photographs play in the magazine?

How do you think the magazine was influenced by the politics of the time?