Kim Gottlieb-Walker ’68

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In September 2010, accomplished photographer Kim Gottlieb-Walker will release her debut photo book, Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae (Titan Books). The book is a testimony in rare, previously unpublished pictures of some of the greatest years of Bob Marley’s career and the history of reggae and dub music.

It features portraits along with performance and personal photography of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Heptones, Inner Circle, Jacob Miller, Jr Murvin, Toots and the Maytals, Burning Spear and Third World. Gottlieb-Walker also recorded the historic backstage meeting of Marley and George Harrison. The book features commentary from journalists and writers including Cameron Crowe, Jeff Walker and Roger Steffens. It is currently available for preorders on Amazon.

Gottlieb-Walker first became interested in photography at the urging of her mother, a former photographer’s assistance who provided her with her first 35mm camera during her freshman year at University of California, Berkeley. After taking photos of activist and folk singer Joan Baez performing at Berkeley, Gottlieb-Walker’s passion was ignited, and she continued her interest after transferring to UCLA during her sophomore year.

During her undergraduate years, she was busy cultivating her creative side in the film department, making a number of student films. She also assisted her professor, Bill Kerby, with a traveling lightshow for concerts put on by The Doors, shot still photos for the underground press and was politically active in protesting the Vietnam War. At only the age of 20, she shot portraits Jimi Hendrix.

In 1967, Gottlieb-Walker again joined Kerby by working as a part of his master’s thesis film crew that captured iconic images from the Summer of Love. The crew shot at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park during the summer solstice celebration, the Monterrey Pop Festival and the Century City police riot.

Gottlieb-Walker has had an extensive career in the entertainment industry. She was the photographer for the publication The Staff, covering every interview and concert, including capturing the portraits of Andy Warhol and Woody Allen and Dan Ellserg. She has also served as the still photographer on a number of diverse film and television projects, including Halloween, Christine and Escape from New York, and she spent nine years as production still photographer on Cheers and five years on Family Ties.

While the photo editor for Music World Magazine, she met her husband Jeff, who later became the director of publicity for Island Records. She travelled with him to Jamaica to photograph all of the Island Records performers, including Bob Marley.

For Gottlieb-Walker, Marley makes the perfect subject for her first photo book. She says, “Bob holds a cherished place in hearts all over the world as a spokesman for love, equality and fighting the corruption of ‘Babylon’ and inspires people with his music even now, long after leaving us too soon.” Learn more about her work.