About

For the best part of 20 years, Brooklyn-based photographer Michael Weintrob has been taking pictures of the biggest musicians in the world for prestigious publications such as Rolling Stone, Spin, Jazz Times and Newsweek.  Whether he is standing in front of the stage or working in his New York studio shooting his subjects, his effervescent enthusiasm for both photography and music shines through.

Weintrob has spent the last few of years working on InstrumentHead, an exhibition of ineffably poignant photographs which offer a surreal sense of magic and mystery, yet somehow also manage to provide a fleeting but utterly revealing glimpse into the psyche of each and every subject.

InstrumentHead captures the very essence of an eclectic array of unique characters that ranges from iconic figures such as Bootsy Collins and King Sunny Ade to lesser-known but equally fascinating musicians like Big Chief Boudreaux and Uncle Lionel Batiste, who both look just as cool as their names suggest.  “Whether they are famous or almost completely-unknown, whether they play mbira or Moog, saxophone or sitar, the one thing that all of them have in common is that music really is absolutely central to everything they do,” Weintrob explains, “I decided to place their instruments in front of their faces in an attempt to blur the boundaries between each individual personality and the tools of their trade.”

“When I was asked to think of a tagline to explain the idea behind my InstrumentHead exhibition, what I initially came up with was – ‘Where their head’s really at.’  I thought it sounded like it was trying a bit too hard to be hip, but when I began to really think about these intriguing, larger-than-life characters for whom music is seemingly just as important as air, I thought that “Where their head’s really at’ summed up the whole idea perfectly.”

Michael Weintrob’s Online Store

Artist List (pdf) with links to specific Musician Portraits, Performance Images and Multiple Exposure Photos available for purchase in Michael Weintrob’s online Store.  Otherwise, view images available via Michael’s print Product Category page.

Stock List

Download Michael Weintrob’s photo Stock Photo List (pdf) for additional images available offline.

Contact Michael

For more information about purchasing prints, licensing stock images or commissioning Michael Weintrob for a photo shoot, email info@michaelweintrob.com or call 718-387-5751.