Music Man

Ed Caraeffcaptured many of music’s biggest stars from the 1960s until 1980. He spoke to Steve Fairclough about his career and his new book that documents the live performances of Jimi Hendrix

- Steve Fairclough

Speaking on his satellite phone from somewhere in the middle of a Californian desert, Ed Caraeff is on fine form. This former photographer and art director, who later switched careers to become a chef, now lives out of a vintage VW camper van and travels across the US on his self-styled ‘bucket list trip’ (partly funded by selling his photography archive in 2015). His photography career began in 1965 during his high school days, in what he describes as ‘the age of innocence’, when his charm and a few crucial connections led to him photographing many of music’s biggest stars…

Ed began taking photography classes because his first female teacher was ‘hot’, but he quickly became hooked on the art. ‘I was kind of intrigued by the concept of photography; there being a light sensitive material, changing focus, aperture and sensitivity – I liked all of that.’

At the time, Ed was using a plastic Instamatic roll film camera and reveals, ‘I transferred during a semester to a school that my parents thought was better. It turned out it was right near to Los Angeles International Airport [LAX], which would later play a huge part in me having a career in photography.’

Ed’s mentor, and his friend to this day, was his teacher Mr Meade. ‘He had a darkroom, and everything really kicked into gear during the two semesters I took photography with Mr Meade. Not only did he teach me all of the darkroom skills, but he also in let me skip other classes so I could go into the darkroom. He gave me complete freedom and never told on me.’

Starting out with The Seeds