John and Yoko: A New York Love Story by Allan Tannenbaum, Chris Murray (Introduction), Yoko Ono (Preface by)

Synopsis

In November 1980, on the eve of John Lennon's untimely murder by a lone gunman, photographer Allan Tannenbaum had unique and total access to John and Yoko, who were emerging from five years of seclusion and avoiding the media. As one of the few photographers with whom John and Yoko were close, Tannenbaum was privileged to be able to capture many intimate moments between the two. The resulting photographs, many of which have never before been available to the public, portray a couple deeply in love--playful, spiritual, and remarkably at home in front of the camera while expressing their feelings to each other. John cherished these images of Yoko and was moved by their beauty and grace.
The prologue to this volume documents, through a rare set of images, John Lennon's last live performance. After John's shocking murder in December 1980, Tannenbaum continued to photograph Yoko, as well as the vigils and memorials that immediately sprang up throughout the city. This bittersweet collection is both a celebration of and tribute to one of our greatest artists and an everlasting love affair.
Foreword by Yoko Ono, introduction by Allan Tannenbaum.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review.

In 1975, photographer Tannenbaum met John Lennon and Yoko Ono while covering the taping of what would be Lennon's final public performance. Tannenbaum eventually began a comfortable working relationship with Lennon and Ono as they emerged from years of seclusion to promote their album Double Fantasy, the release of which would presage Lennon's Dec. 8, 1980 murder by mere weeks. This volume collects Tannenbaum's images from that time, many never before published, providing breathtaking, borderline-voyeuristic peeks into one of rock's most enigmatic couples. Most photos here were taken in November and December 1980, including a Central Park stroll, working in the home office and an intimate, dreamlike series featuring the couple undressing and in bed in an all-white gallery exhibition space. A chapter on Lennon's death captures the despair of a city as word of the murder spread. Tannenbaum (New York in the 70s) introduces each chapter with an eloquent personal narrative, but these narrow slices of Lennon's life speak volumes about the reclusive couple's later years.
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Biography

ALLAN TANNENBAUM'S career in photography spans more than four decades. An international photojournalist and author of several books of photography, his work has also appeared in many noted publications including Time, Life, and Newsweek.
YOKO ONO is an artist, musician, and activist. She met John Lennon in 1966. Ono and Lennon began their lifelong love affair two years later, and were inseperable until his death in 1980.
CHRIS MURRAY is the founder and director of the acclaimed Govinda Gallery in Washington D.C. Murray has organized more than 200 exhibitions of many of the nation's leading artists, including Andy Warhol and Annie Liebowitz.