John and Yoko: big apple days

Photographer Allen Tannenbaum’s new book captures John and Yoko’s last days together in New York. Interview by Ken Sharp.

In his new book John & Yoko: A New York Love Story, Allan Tannenbaum’s remarkable portraits of the couple, taken in November 1980, lovingly document their relationship. Having been given unprecedented access to Lennon and Ono, Tannenbaum’s evocative work stands as a historic document of the couple’s final days together. Whether frolicking through New York’s Central Park, posing outside of their Dakota home or capturing wonderfully intimate images of the naked couple pretending to make love, the new book offers a compelling window into their private life.

It was working for a New York newspaper which led you to photographing John and Yoko.

At the time I was the chief photographer and photo editor for the SoHo Weekly News. When I became aware that John and Yoko were coming out of seclusion with the Double Fantasy album, I suggested doing a story about it and Yoko went for the idea. So, we arranged for her to come to my studio downtown in TriBeCa on 20 November, 1980.

She came to my studio and was wearing jeans, a black leather jacket, a newsboy cap and sunglasses. She wasn’t going to remove any of that stuff, so it was going to be a very cold picture. But after working with her for a while I convinced her to take off the jacket and then the sunglasses. Then she got playful and she put her hand on her …

by Ken Sharp
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